By Abimbola Ogunnaike
An Iranian Court has sentenced a rapper, Toomaj Salehi, to death for supporting anti-hijab protests.
Salehi has been jailed for more than a year and half over his backing of the wave of demonstrations sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini, who died days after she was arrested for wearing an “improper” hijab in 2022.
His attorney, Amir Raisian on Wednesday, 24 April, 2024 said, “Branch 1 of Isfahan Revolutionary Court… sentenced Toomaj Salehi to death on the charge of corruption on Earth.”
Salehi was arrested in October 2022 after publicly supporting the anti-hijab protests.
The Revolutionary Court had accused Salehi of “assistance in sedition, assembly and collusion, propaganda against the system and calling for riots.”
The Iranian Supreme Court had reviewed the case and issued a ruling to the lower court to “remove the flaws in the sentence.”
However, the court had “in an unprecedented move, emphasised its independence and did not implement the Supreme Court’s ruling,” according to Raisian.
Raisian said the rapper “will certainly appeal against the sentence.”
