Amnesty International calls for release of imprisoned Iranian rapper Toomaj

Amnesty International launched a “Take Action” appeal on Thursday, urging the public to demand the “immediate and unconditional release” of dissident rapper Toomaj Salehi as authorities brought new charges.

The organization called on his supporters to send letters to the Iranian judiciary chiefGholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, who is campaigning for Salehi’s release and the dismissal of all charges against him.

On July 10, intelligence agents interrogated Salehi without a lawyer present, focusing on new cases related to his song “Typhus,” which was released in March 2024 while he was in detention.

Salehi now faces four charges: before the Revolutionary Court, he is accused of “spreading propaganda against the system” and “advocating for war and murder with the intent to endanger national security.” Before a criminal court, he is accused of “insulting religious sanctities” and “spreading lies with the intent to disturb public opinion.”

Amnesty International warned that if convicted on these charges, Salehi could face a lengthy prison sentence.

In the song, Salehi criticizes state-sponsored rappers in a style known in the hip-hop genre as a “diss.” None of the allegations, including inciting war, spreading propaganda, insulting religious shrines or disturbing public opinion, are substantiated in the song. Amnesty International has called these allegations “baseless,” pointing out that Salehi is being targeted solely for his peaceful exercise of human rights, including freedom of expression, through his music.

Iran’s judiciary has a history of building cases against dissidents on the basis of fabricated charges to silence dissenters. Negin Niknaam, an Iranian activist and Salehi’s social media manager, told Iran International English on Friday that Iran’s intelligence services had brought new charges against Salehi to prevent his release on bail after previous attempts to execute him sparked global outrage.

Salehi was first arrested on September 13, 2021, in a separate case following the release of the song “Mouse Hole.” On October 30, 2022, he was arbitrarily arrested a second time during the nationwide “Women, Life, Freedom” uprising in Iran. He was accused of various charges, including “corruption on earth,” for which he was sentenced to death in April 2024.

Although he was granted bail on November 18, 2023, the 33-year-old rapper was arrested again less than two weeks later. He was charged with new charges of “publishing falsehoods” and “propaganda against the state.” For this, he was sentenced to one year in prison after he posted a video describing his torture experiences in custody. Currently, Salehi remains in Dastgerd Prison in Esfahan, serving his one-year sentence while awaiting the legal outcome of the case against him in 2022, which overturned his death sentence. However, since his arrest in October 2022, Salehi has been in prison for almost 2 years.

However, with new charges filed against the rapper and a resentencing in the 2022 case looming, his fate remains uncertain.

Amnesty International also noted that Salehi was still suffering from the effects of his torture, including pain in his legs and hands that required surgery, but the authorities denied him access to adequate medical care.