iran-top-court-overturns-rapper-toomaj-salehi’s-death-sentence,-lawyer-says

Iran top court overturns rapper Toomaj Salehi’s death sentence, lawyer says

Salehi’s songs supported protests sparked by the death in police custody of Mahsa Amini, a young Kurdish Iranian woman arrested for allegedly wearing an “improper” hijab.

By REUTERS
Updated: JUNE 22, 2024 13:59
Iranian rapper Toomaj Salehi (photo credit: ZREMPN/Wikimedia Commons)
Iranian rapper Toomaj Salehi
(photo credit: ZREMPN/Wikimedia Commons)

 Iran’s supreme court has overturned Iranian rapper Toomaj Salehi’s death sentence on charges linked to the country’s 2022-23 period of unrest, his lawyer wrote in a post on the X social media platform on Saturday.

“The death sentence of #Toomaj_Salehi was overturned and based on the appeal decision …of the Supreme Court, the case will be referred to (another) branch for consideration,” attorney Amir Raisian wrote on X.

There was no immediate official confirmation of the ruling.

Protesting against Iran’s brutal killing of Mahsa Amini

Salehi’s songs supported protests sparked by the death in police custody of Mahsa Amini, a young Kurdish Iranian woman arrested for allegedly wearing an “improper” hijab.

A image of Zhina Mahsa Amini at a candlelit vigil following her death, outside the Wilshire Federal Building in Los Angeles, California, U.S., September 22, 2022. (credit: BING GUAN/REUTERS)

Salehi was prosecuted on charges of corruption on earth, a charge used often by the regime in Iran to target activists.