Iranian rapper sentenced to death for supporting protest movement

His lawyer, Amir Raisian, told the reform-friendly newspaper Shargh, according to the Reuters news agency.

The rapper was arrested in October 2022 following criticizing the regime and showing support for the demonstrators protesting once morest the clergy and the oppression of women.

His lawyer emphasizes that the sentence will be appealed, which must happen within 20 days. The sentence had not yet been confirmed by the Iranian judiciary on Wednesday followingnoon.

Critical texts

The rapper was among thousands of young Iranians who protested the Iranian authorities’ treatment of women following the death of young woman Mahsa Amini in the custody of the morality police. She was arrested as a result of wearing the wrong headgear.

Salehi has written a number of critical texts once morest the regime and is a well-known man both in Iran and in the Iranian exile community. He was among the first artists to express support for the protests.

– He just wanted to be the voice of the people, his uncle Eghbal Eghbali told the TT news agency following his arrest.

Prison sentence

Iran’s Supreme Court has previously sentenced Salehi to six years and three months in prison, although the prosecution wanted the death penalty.

For a period he was released on bail, and during the twelve days in freedom he told regarding extensive torture while he had been locked up.

He was then arrested once more, and on Wednesday it was reported that a revolutionary court has sentenced him to death for waging “war once morest God” as well as “spreading corruption in the world”, according to opposition-friendly Iranian media.

Salehi’s lawyer says it is completely unusual for a revolutionary court not to respect a previous Supreme Court verdict.

Last summer, exiles gathered in Oslo to mark their support for Salehi. The organizations Safemuse and Freemuse, which fight for artistic freedom, sent letters to the Norwegian government in 2022 so that the Norwegian authorities would try to get the rapper released.