Iranian Judiciary Imposes Death Sentence on Activist Musician Toomaj Salehi
Hengaw, Wednesday, April 24, 2024
Toomaj Salehi, a protest rapper who was arrested during the Woman, Life, Freedom (Jin, Jiyan, Azadi) Movement, has been sentenced to capital punishment by Branch One of the Isfahan Revolutionary Court on allegations of “corruption on earth.”
According to a report obtained by the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, on Wednesday, April 24, 2024, Amir Raiesian, one of Toomaj Salehi’s defense attorneys, stated in an interview with “Shargh Channel”: “The Isfahan Revolutionary Court, in an unprecedented decision, has not applied the Supreme Court’s verdict on Toomaj Salehi’s case from 2022, and so by interpreting this ruling as ‘Directory Statue’ and emphasizing the trial court’s independence, sentenced Mr.Salehi to execution on charges of corruption on earth.”
Raiesian further stated: “The Isfahan Revolutionary Court considered the allegations of partnership in rebellion, consensus and collusion, propaganda against the government, and incitement to riot as instances of corruption on earth under Article 286 of the Penal Code, and based on these presumptions and emphasizing the authentication of the corruption, it issued a death sentence for Mr. Salehi. This is despite the fact that the same branch had not previously confirmed the authentication of the corruption on earth charge. However, even more strangely, the trial court also considered a supplementary sentence alongside the execution verdict and sentenced Toomaj Salehi to two years of travel ban, ban on artistic activities, and participation in behavioral skill improvement classes held at the Isfahan Judiciary Center.”
Salehi had previously been sentenced by the same branch of the court to six years and three months of imprisonment and had been sentenced to a travel ban as supplementary penalties for the allegation of “corruption on earth. Salehi had been acquitted of the allegations of “insulting Khomeini,” “insulting Khamenei,” and “communicating with hostile states.”
After enduring one year and 21 days of imprisonment, 252 days of which were spent in solitary confinement, and overturning the six years and three months of imprisonment sentence by Branch 39 of the Supreme Court, on November 18, 2023, Toomaj Salehi was temporarily released from Isfahan Central Prison pending the completion of his trial proceedings.
Salehi was arrested on October 30, 2022, amidst the protests of the Woman, Life, Freedom movement in the village of Gerd Bisheh in Gandoman District, Borujen County, Chaharmahal, and Bakhtiari Province.
This artist was arrested for the second time on November 30, 2023, by armed security forces in Babol City in a violent manner, along with beatings. Since then, he has been transferred to the Dastgerd detention center in Isfahan city and is currently being held in custody there.
