Iran's Top Court Has Overturned The Death Sentence Of This Popular Activist Rapper For Singing About The Mahsa Amini Protests
33-year-old Toomaj Salehi had been sentenced to death in April.
Iran's top court has overturned the death sentence of this popular activist rapper for singing about the Mahsa Amini protests.
33-year-old Toomaj Salehi was initially arrested in October 2022 during the mass anti-government protests that broke out following the death of Amini.
During that time, Salehi had criticized the Iranian government in his songs and music videos, which went viral.
In his last music video, he appeared to reference Amini and the crackdown on protesters, rapping, “Someone’s crime was dancing with her hair in the wind. Someone’s crime was that he or she was brave and criticized.”
“44 years of your government. It's the year of failure,” he rapped.
Salehi was sentenced to death in April.
He had been found guilty of “corruption on earth” in July 2023 and sentenced to six years and three months initially.
His death sentence sparked outrage, with more than 100 Western celebrities, including Coldplay, Sting and author Margaret Atwood, signing a statement calling for his release.
On Saturday, June 22, Salehi’s lawyer said wrote in a post on X, that Iran’s supreme court had overturned his death sentence.
چنانکه انتظار میرفت دیوان عالی کشور از یک خطای غیرقابل جبران قضایی جلوگیری کرد.
— امير رئيسيان AMIR RAESIAN (@amirreiis) June 22, 2024
حکم اعدام #توماج_صالحی نقض شد و بر اساس حکم فرجامی شعبه ٣٩ دیوان عالی کشور، پرونده جهت رسیدگی به شعبه همعرض ارجاع خواهد شد.
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His lawyer said the court found that Salehi's initial six year sentence was excessive, and another branch will review the case.
The decision comes a week before Iran’s presidential elections after the hardline president was killed in a helicopter crash.
Iran has executed at least nine people in connection with the protests, and many others remain at risk of being executed, according to Amnesty International.
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