By Fatimah Alli , with additional report
A 34-year-old Iranian rapper who got sentenced to death for openly supporting anti-government protests has been set free from prison after two years.
Toomaj Salehi was apprehended in October 2022 after publicly supporting protests that broke out throughout Iran consequent on the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody.
But, his death sentence was revoked in June and he was released from prison on Sunday “after serving his sentence” of a year for propaganda against the state, Iran’s judiciary-run Mizan news agency reported.
Salehi took courage in opposing Iran’s leaders through his music having been banned from performing at concerts prior to his arrest.
Authorities sentenced him to six years and three months in prison, July 2023, after he had escaped a death sentence as a result of a Supreme Court ruling on the matter.
Then, he release on Bail was shortlived before being rearrested days later for sharing what was doubed”false claims without evidence” – seemingly a reference to a video he posted claiming to have been “tortured” by intelligence ministry agents.
Mr. Salehi 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.
His release was celebrated by Index on Censorship, a campaign group which stated 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 Iranian Kurdish woman was detained by the religious police while visiting Tehran with her family for allegedly wearing an “improper” hijab.
The incident led to the death of hundreds were and thousands others in the wake of the violence that took place.
Mahsa Amini, the 22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian woman who was at the center of it all died in police custody in Iran on Sept. 16, 2022, fuelling worldwide protests against the country’s conservative Islamic theocracy.
She was arrested for allegedly violating Iran’s mandatory headscarf law. European Parliament President Roberta Metsola had stated that day will “live in infamy,” adding that her ”brutal murder” marked a turning point.
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