Iranian rapper Toomaj Salehi, known for his dissenting views, has been sentenced to death for his alleged involvement in the 2022 protests, according to his lawyer.
Salehi’s lawyer, Amir Raesian, announced on Wednesday via Twitter that a death sentence has been issued for the rapper.
Following his arrest, Salehi was reportedly held in solitary confinement and subjected to torture.
In a surprising turn of events, a court in Isfahan overturned the Supreme Court’s decision on Salehi’s case, reaffirming the original verdict of “corruption on earth” and imposing the maximum penalty of death, as reported by Iranian pro-reform outlets Shargh and Entekhab.
State media indicated that Salehi’s sentence could potentially be reduced by a pardoning committee if he chooses to appeal once more.
Salehi, aged 32, has been an outspoken critic of the Iranian government, expressing his dissent through rap lyrics and social media. Last year, he was briefly released from prison before being violently rearrested and sent to prison in Isfahan.
His rearrest followed the release of a video where he disclosed being tortured and held in solitary confinement for 252 days since his initial arrest in October 2022, according to a statement by UN experts published by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).
In a separate incident, Kurdish-Iranian rapper Saman Yasin, also arrested during the 2022 protests, was reportedly admitted to a psychiatric hospital twice within a year, as per pro-reform news outlet IranWire. Yasin received a five-year prison sentence from a Tehran court, according to the Kurdish human rights group, Hengaw.
The protests erupted following the suspicious death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini while in police custody. Iranian authorities responded with a severe crackdown on the demonstrations.
The United States’ Office of the Special Envoy for Iran condemned Salehi’s death sentence and Yasin’s five-year imprisonment, denouncing the Iranian regime’s violation of human rights and suppression of democratic aspirations.
UN experts echoed these concerns, calling for Salehi’s release and urging Iranian authorities to revoke the death sentence.
German Member of Parliament Ye-One Rhie, Salehi’s political sponsor in Europe, criticized the death sentence as “absurd and inhumane,” highlighting the Iranian regime’s arbitrary treatment of defendants and lack of adherence to the rule of law.