Iran’s Supreme Court docket overturned the loss of life sentence of a authorities critic and a preferred hip-hop artist, Toomaj Salehi — who got here to fame over his lyrics in regards to the loss of life in police custody of Mahsa Amini in 2022 — his lawyer Amir Raisian stated Saturday.
In a put up on social media platform X, Raisian stated the courtroom assessed the case and located Salehi’s previous six years in jail as “extreme” for the reason that punishment was greater than what was allowed by legislation. He added that one other department of the courtroom 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 usually contain closed-door hearings with proof produced secretary and provides restricted rights to these on trial.
The information shortly drew worldwide criticism from america and United Nations specialists, who condemned it as an indication of Tehran’s persevering with crackdown towards all dissent following years of mass protests.
YUKI IWAMURA/AFP through Getty Photographs
Salehi, 33, was arrested in October 2022 after publicly supporting demonstrations that erupted after the loss of life in custody of Amini, 22. Amini had been detained by Iran’s morality police for carrying her hijab too loosely, CBS Information beforehand reported. Supporters of Salehi stated his expenses had been based mostly on his music and participation within the protests.
Salehi rapped about Amini in a single video, saying: “Somebody’s crime was dancing along with her hair within the wind.” In one other verse, he predicts the downfall of Iran’s theocracy.
The Revolutionary Court docket had accused Salehi of “help in sedition, meeting and collusion, propaganda towards the system and calling for riots,” Raisian stated.
Shortly after his launch in November 2023, 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 exhibiting him blindfolded and apologizing for his phrases, a press release prone to have been made underneath duress. Later in 2023, a courtroom 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 folks and noticed over 22,000 detained. 9 males have been executed in protest-related circumstances involving killing and different violence towards safety forces.
