Toomaj Salehi and the Terrible Sentence
Iranian Artist Condemned to Death For Rapping Against the Revolution
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Chief Justice of Iran’s Esfahan province sentenced dissident popular rap singer Toomaj Salehi to "damnation," which many called an actual death sentence by another name, months after accusing him “corruption on earth."
Asadollah Jafari on Sunday convicted Toomaj Salehi of other charges, including “propaganda activity against the establishment, forming an illegal group with the intention of disrupting the security of the country, cooperating with hostile governments, and spreading lies and inciting others to commit violence.”
Human Rights Groups have declared the ruling unjust and appealed for intervention. Toomaj Salehi was detained in late October after criticizing the Islamic Republic and expressing solidarity with the protest movement after the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody.
This comes as sixteen UN-appointed independent human rights experts urged the Iranian government to stop using the death penalty as a tool to punish protesters.
A US-based human rights group said on Saturday that Toomaj Salehi's trial was “without an attorney of his choice,” and his family said his “life is being stolen by the government.”
Again this month, nearly 200 musicians, poets, artists, and activists called for his release.
Dissident rapper Toomaj Salehi had the first day of his so-called "trial" today in Tehran without a lawyer of his choice.
— IranHumanRights.org (@ICHRI) November 26, 2022
He has been charged with "Mohareb" (waging war against God), which could be punishable by death. #MahsaAmini #Iran #مهسا_امینی
#توماج_صالحی pic.twitter.com/EBi61zqDUR
Salehi’s arrest came shortly after his interview with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, saying that “You are dealing with a mafia that is ready to kill the entire nation... in order to keep its power, money and weapons.”
In his politically charged songs such as “Buy a Rat Hole”(2021), Toomaj, a 32-year-old metalworker in Esfahan, spoke out against repression, injustice, poverty, and authorities’ own corruption and impunity from prosecution.
