IRAN – Iranian dissident rapper Toomaj Salehi had his death sentence overturned by the Iranian Supreme Court this week in what his lawyers have deemed a victory for human rights in Iran. Salehi had become a key voice of anti-government dissent in Iran, strongly criticizing the repressive nature of the Iranian regime through his musical output and social media posts. In October 2022, as fervent demonstrations gripped Iran following the death of a young girl, Mahsa Amini in morality police custody, Salehi threw his support behind the protest movement.

Salehi has claimed he was tortured and placed in solitary detention after being initially arrested in October 2022 for his involvement in the protest movement. After being briefly released from prison in 2023, Salehi was re-arrested for “making false claims and spreading lies,” according to Iranian judiciary news agency Mizan. He was then sentenced to death in May this year. A lower court in the central city of Isfahan found him guilty of the crime of “corruption on earth,” issuing the maximum punishment of death.

On Saturday, his lawyer Amir Raesian broke the news of the reversal in a post on X, saying that the Iranian Supreme Court had “avoided irreparable judicial error” and overturned Salehi’s death sentence this week. In its judgment, Iran’s highest court found previous prison sentences handed down to Salehi to be “in excess of legal punishment.” The news was welcomed by the campaign group Index on Censorship which has lobbied strongly for the rapper’s release and worked closely with a team of international human rights lawyers based in London’s Doughty Street Chambers to reverse his death sentence. (CNN)…[+]