Iranian Rapper Sentenced To Death For Protests Released In Iran

Iranian rapper Toomaj Salehi, who was sentenced to death for supporting anti-government protests, has been released after spending two years in prison.

Salehi, 34, was arrested in October 2022 for publicly backing protests that erupted across Iran after the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish woman who died in police custody for allegedly wearing an “improper” hijab. The nationwide demonstrations led to hundreds of deaths and thousands of arrests.

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Salehi, known for his outspoken criticism of Iran’s leaders in his music, had been banned from performing before his arrest. Initially sentenced to death in April 2024 on charges of “corruption on earth,” his sentence was later overturned. By July 2023, he was handed a prison term of six years and three months, following a Supreme Court ruling that spared him the death penalty. However, Iran’s judiciary-run Mizan news agency reported that he was released on Sunday after completing a reduced one-year sentence for propaganda against the state.

The rapper’s imprisonment was marked by controversy. Shortly after his initial release on bail, he was rearrested for allegedly spreading “false claims without evidence,” a charge linked to a video he shared accusing intelligence ministry agents of torture. Alongside the overturned death penalty, Salehi faced additional charges, including spreading lies online, disrupting public order, and opposing the regime through propaganda.

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Index on Censorship, a global campaign group advocating for his release, welcomed the news, stating that Salehi “should never have been imprisoned to begin with.”

His case unfolded amid the intense unrest following Mahsa Amini’s death, which became a flashpoint for broader dissent against the Iranian government.

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