The 33-year-old, a supporter of the “Women, Life, Freedom” movement in Iran, was sentenced to death by a court in the city of Isfahan on April 24, according to his lawyer, quoted by The Guardian.
He was initially arrested in September 2022 and spent a year and 21 days in prison, including 252 days in solitary confinement. After being released on bail, he said he was “severely tortured” during his time in prison. He was arrested again two weeks after his release in December 2023 and charged with corruption.
Through his music, Salehi openly expressed his support for the demonstrations in the months following the death of Mahsa Amini – who died while in police custody in 2022 after being arrested for allegedly wearing a ” improper hijab”. Amini’s death sparked large-scale protests across Iran.
The statement calling for Salehi’s release, written by the advocacy group Index on Censorship, is supported by Little Mix’s Jade Thirlwall, DJ Rob Da Bank, writer Margaret Atwood and theater critic Roshi Nasehi.
The statement reads: “As leading artists, musicians, writers and cultural figures, we stand in solidarity with Toomaj Salehi. We demand that his death sentence be immediately and unconditionally overturned and that he be released from custody without delay, and that all other charges be dismissed. Art must be allowed to criticize, challenge, question and defy authority. This is both our right and our duty as artists.”
Salehi, who has more than two million followers on Instagram, has been outspoken about the Iranian regime in protest pieces such as Mouse Hole, Turkmenchay and Pomegranate, which criticize the regime, denounce corruption and advocate for better rights for workers and women.
Kurdish-Iranian rapper Saman Yasin was also arrested in Iran in 2022 after the Women, Life, Freedom protests, and sentenced to death. The sentence was overturned in December 2022, and he has now been sentenced to five years in exile, according to IranWire.
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