TEHRAN  –  An Iranian rapper who was sentenced to death for supporting anti-government protests has been released from prison after two years.

Toomaj Salehi was arrested in October 2022 after publicly supporting protests that erupted throughout Iran following the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody. His death sentence was overturned in June and he was released from prison last Sunday “after serving his sentence” of a year for propaganda against the state, Iran’s judiciary-run Mizan news agency reported. Mr Salehi, 34, boldly criticised Iran’s leaders in his music and was already banned from performing at concerts prior to his arrest. He was sentenced to six years and three months in prison in July 2023, after avoiding a death sentence due to a Supreme Court ruling.

Mr Salehi was briefly released on bail before being rearrested days later for sharing “false claims without evidence” – seemingly a reference to a video he posted claiming to have been “tortured” by intelligence ministry agents. He was sentenced to death in April 2024 for the capital offence of “corruption on earth”, though this was later overturned. The rapper had been charged with a string of offences, including spreading lies in cyberspace, disruption of public order and propaganda against the establishment. Index on Censorship, a campaign group that had been working to free the rapper, welcomed his release and said Mr Salehi “should never have been imprisoned to begin with”.

His arrest came at the height of nationwide protests sparked by Mahsa Amini’s death. The 22-year-old Iranian Kurdish woman was detained by the religious police while visiting Tehran with her family for allegedly wearing an “improper” hijab. Hundreds were killed and thousands arrested during the unrest that followed. (Al Jazeera)

Photo: The Iranian rapper Toomaj Salehi. (YouTube)