Death penalty for Iranian dissident and rapper Toomaj Salehi lifted

According to his lawyer, the death sentence against the regime-critical rapper Toomaj Salehi was overturned in Iran after an international outcry and the Supreme Court ordered a retrial.

Salehi was arrested in October 2022 after denouncing the government and showing support for protests against the death of Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini, who was arrested for wearing an inappropriate hijab.

On April 24, 2024, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Court sentenced Salehi to death, sparking widespread international condemnation.

However, in a statement on X (formerly Twitter) on Saturday, his lawyer said the Supreme Court had issued a “irreparable judicial error” and overturned the verdict.

“The death sentence against Toomaj Salehi has been quashed and based on the appeal decision of the 39th Chamber of the Supreme Court, the case will be referred to the same Chamber for further consideration,” he wrote.

The court also ruled that even a previous prison sentence against the rapper “exceeds the statutory penalty,” he added.

Salehi was one of many prominent figures arrested in a mass crackdown following the Amini demonstrations, during which dozens of journalists, lawyers, and representatives of civil society and cultural life were taken into custody.

His arrest came shortly after he gave an interview to Canadian media in which he was highly critical of the Islamic Republic, saying the protesters were “facing a mafia that is prepared to kill the entire nation … to keep its power, money and weapons.”

Iranian state media claimed at the time that Salehi was arrested while attempting to cross one of the country’s western borders, but his family denied this and said he was in the southwestern province of Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari at the time.

His X-Account, currently run by an “administrator,” praised the abolition of the death penalty but also said he should never have been imprisoned.

“Toomaj was detained without valid legal grounds and solely for expressing critical opinions and supporting the voice of the protesting population. His continued detention has no legal basis and he should be released as soon as possible and returned to his large family,” it said.