Iranian dissident rapper Toomaj has his death sentence overturned

CNN
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Dissident Iranian rapper Toomaj Salehi had his death sentence overturned this week by Iran's Supreme Court, in what his lawyers say is a victory for human rights in Iran.

Salehi had become a key voice of anti-government dissent in Iran, sharply criticizing the repressive nature of the Iranian regime through his music production and social media posts. In October 2022, as fervent protests gripped Iran following the death of a young girl, Mahsa Amini, in vice custody, Salehi lent his support to the protest movement.

Salehi claimed he was tortured and held in solitary confinement after initially being arrested in October 2022 for his involvement in the protest movement. After being briefly released from prison in 2023, Salehi was rearrested for “false statements and spreading lies”, according to Iran's Mizan judicial news agency. He was subsequently sentenced to death in May this year. A lower court in the central city of Isfahan found him guilty of the crime of “corruption on earth,” giving him the maximum sentence of death.

On Saturday, his lawyer Amir Raesian announced the news of the reversal in an article on In its ruling, Iran's highest court found that Salehi's prison sentences were “higher than the legal penalty.”

The news was welcomed by campaign group Index on Censorship, which lobbied hard for the rapper's release and worked closely with a team of international human rights lawyers based at the Doughty Street Chambers in London to overturn his death sentence.

“He [the judgment] is a clear demonstration of the injustice of the lower court's decision, and we are pleased that Salehi no longer faces execution. The Supreme Court ruled that the death sentence imposed on Salehi was excessive and not in accordance with Iranian law,” the group said in a statement on Saturday.

Salehi's case will now be sent back to the Isfahan Lower Court for re-sentencing, Index On Censorship said, denouncing the prospect of another prison term for the rapper.

“Even a shorter period of imprisonment would be an injustice: Salehi has done nothing other than call for respect for his fundamental rights and those of other Iranians,” the group added.

Caoilfhionn Gallagher, a London-based human rights lawyer and international adviser to the Salehi family, said it was “not enough” that his life was “spared” by Iranian authorities. Gallagher, who with a team of colleagues filed an urgent appeal to the UN regarding Salehi's case last May, has once again called for his “unconditional” release.

“We urge the international community to maintain pressure at this critical moment, to secure Salehi's freedom and hold Iran accountable for its flagrant violations of international human rights law,” Gallagher said in the statement. of the Index on Censorship.

The campaign to secure Salehi's release has gained support from prestigious voices around the world. The Recording Academy, which organizes the Grammy Awards, released a statement in April saying it was “deeply troubled by the recent news regarding Toomaj Salehi.”

“No artist anywhere should have to fear for their life or livelihood when expressing themselves through their art,” the statement added.

British business tycoon Richard Branson was also among those who called for Salehi's release, calling it “impossible to listen to Toomaj's music, read his lyrics and not be deeply moved by his message.”

In Iran, more than 300 Iranian musicians signed a collective statement expressing opposition to the rapper's death sentence, describing him as “a champion of the righteous aspirations of an entire generation of Iranians.”

Jemimah Steinfeld, CEO of Index on Censorshop, said she hoped the decision would allow Salehi to “seek the medical treatment he needs and continue his life-saving work.”

Claudia Bennett, legal and program officer at the Human Rights Foundation, called the rapper's case “emblematic of the brutality of dictatorships.”

“They use arbitrary detention to silence dissidents and those who defend democracy and human rights. Toomaj's crime was singing a song and posting it on social media. Something that we in democracies take for granted,” she added.