Toomaj Salehi, the prominent rapper and regime critic sentenced to death for anti-government activities, has had his death sentence overturned by Iran’s Supreme Court. The court found his original six-year imprisonment excessive and has ordered a retrial.
Iran’s Supreme Court overturned the death sentence of Toomaj Salehi, a prominent rapper and regime critic, announced his lawyer Amir Raisian on Saturday, June 22, 2024. Salehi, known for his outspoken lyrics about Mahsa Amini’s death in police custody in 2022, faced charges of “corruption on Earth” and other offenses related to anti-government activities.
Salehi, 33, was originally sentenced to death by a Revolutionary Court in Isfahan in April. The Supreme Court found his six-year imprisonment “excessive” and ordered a retrial. Salehi had been arrested in October 2022 after supporting protests over Amini’s death and released briefly in November 2023 before being rearrested.
International outcry followed his arrest and sentencing, with notable figures from Human Rights Foundation and Western celebrities advocating for his release. Salehi’s case will now be reconsidered by a different branch of the Isfahan Revolutionary Court.
