Iran Sentences Rapper To Death For Supporting Anti-Hijab Protests

A court in Iran has issued a death sentence to a dissident rapper for supporting protests that arose after the death of Mahsa Amini, who was detained in 2022 for wearing a hijab deemed ‘improper’.

The rapper, Toomaj Salehi, has been imprisoned for over eighteen months, according to CBS News.

The reformist Shargh newspaper reported on Wednesday that Toomaj Salehi was sentenced to death for corruption on Earth by Branch 1 of Isfahan Revolutionary Court, according to the artist’s lawyer Amir Raisian.

The Iranian Government claimed to possess evidence implicating the U.S. and other Western nations in the protests sparked across the country following the death of Amini.

Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish woman, was detained in September 2022 for improper hijab enforcement.

Tragically, she passed away three days after her arrest, triggering widespread and violent demonstrations in the nation.

Salehi, aged 33, was detained in October 2022 for publicly supporting the surge of protests that emerged a month prior, sparked by Amini’s tragic death while in custody.

The unrest that ensued after Amini’s death in September 2022 resulted in hundreds of casualties, including dozens of security personnel, with thousands of individuals being detained.

According to Raisian, the Revolutionary Court had charged Salehi with “assistance in sedition, assembly and collusion, propaganda against the system, and inciting riots.”

The Supreme Court reviewed the case and instructed the lower court to rectify the flaws in the sentence, as stated by Raisian.

The artist’s lawyer noted that the court, in an unprecedented move, asserted its independence by refusing to implement the Supreme Court’s ruling.

However, Raisian affirmed that he and Salehi would definitely appeal against the sentence.