The death penalty. This is the sentence to which he was sentenced Toomaj Salehi, famous Iranian rapper imprisoned for more than a year and a half, reports AFP this Wednesday April 24. At issue: its support for the 2022 protest movement, triggered after the death of Mahsa Amini, arrested by the local police for wearing her veil incorrectly.
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“ The Revolutionary Court of Isfahan (…) sentenced Toomaj Salehi to death for corruption on Earth “, one of the most serious charges in the country, said the singer's lawyer, Amir Raisian, quoted by the Iranian daily Shargh. The revolutionary court had also accused the rapper “ incitement to sedition, assembly, conspiracy, propaganda against the system and calls for riots “.
Nine people executed
The 33-year-old rapper was arrested in October 2022 after his positions, in his texts, on social networks and in the press, in support of the protest movement initiated after the death of Mahsa Amini, detained by the morality police .
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In an interview with the Canadian channel CBC, the singer notably denounced the methods of the Iranian security forces, not failing to also attack the country's leaders. “ We live in a horrible place. We are dealing with a mafia ready to kill the entire nation to keep power, money and weapons “, he said before being arrested two days later.
Foreign artists then gave him their support, fearing that he would be sentenced to death. A fate reserved, according to NGOs cited by AFP, for at least nine people involved in this mobilization.
