Iran’s Supreme Court Overturns Rapper’s Death Sentence

rferl.org – Iran’s Supreme Court has overturned popular rapper Toomaj Salehi’s death sentence, his lawyer said on June 22.

In April, Salehi was sentenced to death by a court in Isfahan on a new charge, “corruption on Earth,” as he was serving a six-year prison sentence for his involvement in the 2022 protests that rocked Iran for months.

“As expected, the Supreme Court avoided an irreparable judicial error,” Salehi’s lawyer, Amir Raisian, wrote on X. “The death sentence was overturned and, based on the appeal decision of the Supreme Court, the case will be referred to a parallel branch for reconsideration.”

Salehi, 33, was initially arrested in October 2022 after making public statements in support of the protests that had erupted the previous month following the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman who died while in police custody for allegedly wearing her head scarf improperly.

After spending much of his pretrial detention in solitary confinement, he was sentenced to six years in prison but released after the Supreme Court, on appeal, found “flaws in the original sentence.” His case was sent back to a lower court for reexamination and possible retrial.

He was temporarily released on bail in November after spending over a year in prison, including 252 days in solitary confinement, but then was rearrested shortly after publicly talking about his alleged torture in prison in a video.

Raisian said on June 22 that the Supreme Court also annulled the previous six-year sentence because “it is in excess of legal punishment.”

Salehi gained prominence for lyrics that rail against corruption, widespread poverty, executions, and the killing of protesters in Iran.

His songs also point to a widening gap between ordinary Iranians and the country’s leadership, accusing the authorities of “suffocating” the people without regard for their well-being.