{"id":625192,"date":"2024-06-23T00:04:38","date_gmt":"2024-06-22T21:04:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/iranian-dissident-rapper-toomaj-has-death-sentence-overturned\/"},"modified":"2024-06-23T00:04:38","modified_gmt":"2024-06-22T21:04:38","slug":"iranian-dissident-rapper-toomaj-has-death-sentence-overturned","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/iranian-dissident-rapper-toomaj-has-death-sentence-overturned\/","title":{"rendered":"#Iranian dissident rapper Toomaj has death sentence overturned"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n


\n <\/span>
\n CNN<\/span>
\n \u00a0\u2014\u00a0
\n <\/cite><\/p>\n

\n Iranian dissident rapp<\/a>er 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.\n <\/p>\n

\n 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<\/a> 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.\n <\/p>\n

\n 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 \u201cmaking false claims and spreading lies,\u201d according to Iranian judiciary news<\/a> 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 \u201ccorruption on earth,\u201d issuing the maximum punishment of death.\n <\/p>\n

\n On Saturday, his lawyer Amir Raesian broke the news of the reversal\u00a0<\/strong>in a post on X, saying that the Iranian Supreme Court had \u201cavoided irreparable judicial error\u201d and overturned Salehi\u2019s death sentence this week. In its judgment, Iran\u2019s highest court found previous prison sentences handed down to Salehi to be \u201cin excess of legal punishment.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n The news was welcomed by the campaign group Index on Censorship which has lobbied strongly for the rapper\u2019s release and worked closely with a team of international human rights lawyers based in London\u2019s Doughty Street Chambers to reverse his death sentence.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cIt [the judgment] is a clear demonstration of the injustice of the lower court decision, and we are delighted that Salehi no longer faces the threat of execution. The Supreme Court found that the death sentence delivered to Salehi was excessive and failed to comply with Iranian law,\u201d the group said in a statement Saturday.\n <\/p>\n

\n Salehi\u2019s case will now referred back to the lower court in Isfahan for re-sentencing, Index On Censorship said, decrying the prospect of any further jail time for the rapper.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cEven a shorter period of imprisonment would be an injustice: Salehi has done nothing other than to call for his, and other Iranians\u2019, fundamental rights to be respected,\u201d the group added.\n <\/p>\n

\n London-based human rights lawyer Caoilfhionn Gallagher who is the international counsel for the Salehi family said it was \u201cnot enough\u201d that his life had been \u201cspared\u201d by the Iranian authorities. Gallagher who alongside a team of colleagues filed an urgent appeal to the UN regarding Salehi\u2019s case back in May, called once again for his \u201cunconditional\u201d release.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cWe urge the international community to keep the pressure up at this critical time, to secure Salehi\u2019s freedom and hold Iran to account for its egregious violations of international human rights law,\u201d Gallagher said in the Index On Censorship statement.\n <\/p>\n

\n The campaign to secure Salehi\u2019s release has won support from high-profile voices across the globe. The Recording Academy which organises the Grammy Awards, put out a statement in April saying it was \u201cdeeply troubled by the recent news regarding Toomaj Salehi.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cNo artist anywhere should have to fear for their life or livelihood when expressing themselves through their art,\u201d the statement added.\n <\/p>\n

\n British business magnate Richard Branson was also among those to call for Salehi\u2019s release, calling it \u201cimpossible to listen to Toomaj\u2019s music, read his lyrics, and not be deeply touched by his message.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n At home in Iran, over 300 Iranian musicians signed a collective statement conveying their opposition to the rapper\u2019s death sentence, describing him as \u201ca champion of the righteous aspirations of an entire generation of Iranians.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Index on Censorshop CEO Jemimah Steinfeld said she hoped the decision would allow Salehi to \u201cseek the medical treatment he needs and continue his vital work.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Claudia Bennett, a legal and programs officer at the Human Rights Foundation, called the rapper\u2019s case \u201cemblematic of the brutality of dictatorships.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cThey use arbitrary detention to silence dissidents and those advocating for democracy and human rights. Toomaj\u2019s crime was singing a song and posting on social media. Something that we in democracies take for granted,\u201d she added.\n <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

CNN \u00a0\u2014\u00a0 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…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":625193,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/media.cnn.com\/api\/v1\/images\/stellar\/prod\/gettyimages-2150257116.jpg?c=16x9&q=w_800,c_fill","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-625192","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/625192","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=625192"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/625192\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/625193"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=625192"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=625192"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=625192"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}