Iran sentences rapper Toomaj Salehi to death: Who is he?
His lyrics are perceived as a threat by the Iranian regime. Rapper to March. Salehi has millions of fans in and outside Iran, but a court in Isfahan has sentenced him to death for corruption on Earth. The 32 year old uses his songs to speak out against the establishment. From the start of the protest movement after the death of Salehi has supported the demonstrations. Arrested and jailed in 2022, he dared to speak out on the conditions of his detention after his release. I was tortured for a long time during my detention. They would hit my hands, my feet. When I tried to protect myself with my hands, they’d break my fingers. It’s that testimony that could now cost him his life. One of his lawyers, based in France, says the death sentence is a sign of the regime’s fragility. The Iranian justice system is doing everything in its power to convict opponents. So it’s really a political justice system, but when it comes to too much, it’s really taking extraordinary proportions. Because sentencing someone to death for a few words is something that could be described as barbaric. 853 Iranians were executed last year, the highest number since 2015. Today, the protest movement lives, but more discreetly, women continue to remove their headscarves and organised and nonviolent way of resisting oppression. The protest movement may be less spectacular, but it’s just as courageous and dangerous, and it’s spread across all layers and generations of Iranian society. No, like society. Can still appeal against the issuing of his death sentence, but in the meantime his fans are calling for international mobilisation to save him.