Iran Hands Death Sentence to Rap Star Arrested for Protest Songs
Toomaj Salehi was initially sentenced in July 2023 to more than six years in prison and charged with “corruption on Earth,” a crime that carries the death sentence under Iran’s Islamic laws.
Photographer: Robert Deyrail/Gamma-Rapho/Getty ImagesA prominent Iranian hip hop musician who was arrested for his protest lyrics and social media posts has been sentenced to death by an Iranian court, the reformist Shargh newspaper reported.
Toomaj Salehi was arrested in October 2022 during nationwide protests that were triggered by the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian woman who had been arrested by so-called morality police for allegedly violating strict Islamic dress codes.