The Iranian Supreme Court the death sentence quashed by a government critic and a popular hip-hop artist, Toomaj Salehi – who became famous for his lyrics about the death in police custody of Mahsa Amini in 2022 – his lawyer Amir Raisian said on Saturday.
In a post on social media platform He added that another branch of the court will now hear the case.
Salehi's death sentence in April by a Revolutionary Court in the central city of Isfahan caused confusion as even Iran's state news agency IRNA and the judiciary did not formally confirm it. Such courts in Iran often involve closed-door hearings during which evidence is produced and give limited rights to those on trial.
The news quickly drew international criticism from United States and United Nations experts, who condemned it as a sign of Tehran's continued crackdown on all dissent after years of mass protests.
YUKI IWAMURA/AFP via Getty Images
Salehi, 33, was arrested in October 2022 after publicly supporting him demonstrations that broke out after the death in custody of 22-year-old Amini. Amini was arrested by Iranian moral police for wearing her hijab too loosely, CBS News previously reported. Supporters of Salehi said his accusations were based on his music and participation in the protests.
Salehi rapped Amini in one video, saying, “Someone's crime was dancing with her hair in the wind.” In another verse he predicts the demise of the Iranian theocracy.
The Revolutionary Court had charged Salehi with “aiding sedition, conspiracy and conspiracy, propaganda against the system and incitement to riots,” Raisian said.
Shortly after his release in November 2023, Salehi was sent back to prison after saying in a video message that he had been tortured following his detention in October 2022. State media at the time released a video showing him blindfolded and apologizing for his words, a statement likely made under duress. Later in 2023, a court sentenced Salehi to more than six years in prison.
United Nations investigators say Iran was responsible for Amini's death, and it is largely peaceful protests violently suppressed during a months-long security crackdown that left more than 500 people dead and more than 22,000 arrested. Nine men have been executed in protest-related cases involving killings and other violence against security forces.
