Protesters attend a rally in opposition to a loss of life sentence given to Toomaj Salehi, a well-liked rapper in Iran, and to assist to the ladies of Iran, in Berlin, Germany, on Sunday, April 28, 2024. Iran’s Supreme Court docket overturned Salehi’s loss of life sentence on Saturday, June 22, 2024, his lawyer Amir Raisian mentioned.
Ebrahim Noroozi/AP
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Ebrahim Noroozi/AP
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iran’s Supreme Court docket overturned the loss of life sentence of a authorities critic and a well-liked hip-hop artist, Toomaj Salehi — who got here to fame over his lyrics concerning the loss of life in police custody of Mahsa Amini in 2022 — his lawyer Amir Raisian mentioned Saturday.
In a publish on social media platform X, Raisian mentioned that the court docket assessed the case and located Salehi’s previous six years in jail as “extreme” because the punishment was greater than what was allowed by regulation. He added that one other department of the court docket will now assessment the case.
Salehi’s loss of life sentence in April by a Revolutionary Court docket within the central metropolis of Isfahan created confusion as even Iran’s state-run IRNA information company and the judiciary didn’t formally verify it. Such courts in Iran typically contain closed-door hearings with proof produced secretary and provides restricted rights to these on trial.
The information rapidly drew worldwide criticism from america and United Nations specialists, who condemned it as an indication of Tehran’s persevering with crackdown in opposition to all dissent following years of mass protests.
Salehi was launched from jail final November after spending a yr there on fees that his supporters mentioned had been based mostly on the hip-hop artist’s music and participation within the protests that broke out in Iran over the loss of life of Mahsa Amini, 22. Amini died within the custody of the nation’s morality police after being detained for carrying her hijab too loosely.
Salehi rapped about Amini in a single video, saying: “Somebody’s crime was dancing together with her hair within the wind.” In one other verse, he predicts the downfall of Iran’s theocracy.
Shortly after his launch final yr, Salehi was despatched to jail once more after saying in a video message that he was tortured after his detention in October 2022. State media on the time launched a video displaying him blindfolded and apologizing for his phrases, a press release more likely to have been made underneath duress. Later in 2023, a court docket sentenced Salehi to greater than six years in jail.
United Nations investigators say Iran was answerable for Amini’s loss of life, and that it violently put down largely peaceable protests in a monthslong safety crackdown that killed greater than 500 individuals and noticed over 22,000 detained.
