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Iranian dissident rapper Toumaji Salehi was sentenced to dying earlier this week for releasing music criticizing the federal government and supporting the Iran 2022 protests.
Salehi’s lawyer, Amir Resian, confirmed the decision. twitter, writes, “The order for the execution of Toumaji Salehi has been issued.” Resian plans to attraction the sentence, which might end in his sentence being lowered.
As reported by the New York Times, Salehi was arrested in October 2022 in the course of the riots sparked by the dying of 22-year-old Martha Amini, who was arrested by Iran’s ethical police and later died in custody. arrested. Salehi was finally charged with “spreading corruption on earth” for releasing music criticizing the federal government and inspiring his supporters to hitch protests in movies shared on social media. , punishable by dying.
In July 2023, a decrease court docket within the metropolis of Isfahan finally sentenced Salehi to greater than six years in jail, with a US State Department doc additionally banning him from making music or singing for 2 years. In November, Salehi was launched on bail after Iran’s Supreme Court discovered the unique sentence flawed, however he was arrested once more simply two weeks later.
Salehi’s lawyer stated the dying sentence handed down by the Isfahan court docket had “apparent authorized contradictions” and was “unprecedented” because it successfully ignored the ruling of the very best court docket.
The dying sentence has drawn heavy criticism from numerous governments and advocacy teams.Office of the US Special Envoy to Iran Said“We strongly condemn the dying sentence of Toumaji Salehi,” he stated, referring to the five-year jail sentence handed down to a different artist, Kurdish-Iranian rapper Saman Yassin.
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“We name for his or her instant launch,” the assertion continued. “These are the most recent examples of the Iranian regime’s brutal abuses towards its personal folks, its disregard for human rights, and its concern of the democratic change the Iranian folks search.”
News of Salehi’s sentencing additionally unfold to components of the American hip-hop neighborhood which have spoken out on Salehi’s behalf previously.Meek Mill on social media Posted “Release Toumaji!” and “He was sentenced to dying for the music that set him free, rattling it.”
In an announcement shared with Rolling Stone journal, lawyer and Iranian-American activist Erika Le Bon referred to as Salehi “an Iranian citizen with unparalleled braveness to specific life beneath a brutal regime by means of hip-hop music. ‘s beloved icon.’ Like most artwork, it’s unlawful in Iran. ”
He added: “It’s arduous to imagine that we stay in a time when extremely gifted rap artists are being lynched from cranes for his or her music libraries, however that is not what Iranians face daily. “This is a actuality that we proceed to face daily from the previous.” 45 years. ”
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Le Bon famous that the Iranian authorities “tends to not execute people who find themselves identified to the worldwide neighborhood.” This has led supporters of the Iranian diaspora specifically to undertake the “Say Name to Save Lives” marketing campaign to boost worldwide consciousness of Iranian political prisoners. “This is due to this fact a part of an pressing marketing campaign to get our readers to say as a lot as doable about Toomaj utilizing the hashtags #FreeToomaj or #ToomajSalehi,” Le Bon stated. “Every remark makes a distinction. If we have been unsuitable, what have we misplaced by attempting?” (Read Le Bon’s full assertion beneath.)
Erica Le Bon assertion relating to Toumaji Salehi
As any American hip-hop artist or listener is aware of, rap has at all times been a conduit to the streets and the heart beat of the streets. This music that strikes mountains, evokes us, shocks these of us alive and awakens generations, strikes us with felt fact and on the similar time is fascinating, bouncing completely over the beats. In poetic prose, it tells real-life tales beneath the harshest of circumstances. This is Toumaji Salehi for Iran. Known to us because the “Iranian Tupac,” he turned a beloved icon for Iranians for his unparalleled braveness in expressing life beneath a brutal regime by means of his hip-hop music, a creative expression that… Like most artwork, it’s unlawful. In Iran. Not solely is that this unlawful, but it surely exposes the artist to false prices reminiscent of “corruption of the earth,” which carries a dying sentence. Sure sufficient, a couple of days in the past, Iranian society was as soon as once more shaken to its core when it discovered that Mr. Toumaji had been sentenced to dying by hanging after a two-year jail sentence (with short-term bail) for making rap music. . It’s arduous to imagine that we stay in a time when extremely gifted rap artists are lynched with cranes for his or her music libraries, however that is what Iranians face daily, This is a actuality that I’ve been dealing with daily for 45 years.
In the dystopian world of cures, there may be one avenue that would assist Tooumaji. Iranians within the diaspora have turn out to be conscious of the truth that the regime tends to not execute folks identified to the worldwide neighborhood. We have proven examples of prisoners being launched on bail or having their sentences commuted by means of our ‘Say Your Name to Save a Life’ marketing campaign on social media that makes use of hashtags to attract consideration to their trigger. I’ve seen many. This was earlier than social media existed. Through telling the tales of political prisoners to worldwide media. We’ve seen them backtrack and go unfulfilled as soon as they get into the information and see the fact of the regime and its atrocities and understand that their actions aren’t definitely worth the ripples they trigger. So that is a part of an pressing marketing campaign for our readers to speak as a lot as doable about Toomaj utilizing the hashtags #FreeToomaj or #ToomajSalehi. Every remark makes a distinction. If we have been unsuitable, what did we lose by attempting?
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Mr. Tumasi is just not the one political prisoner liable to execution. Lesser-known names reminiscent of Reza Rasaei, Mojahed Kourour and Abbas Delis are just some liable to imminent execution. Notably, American Jamshid Sharmahad, who was kidnapped by Iran and has been held in solitary confinement for the previous three years, has additionally been sentenced to dying by hanging, with a deadline of May eleventh if the US authorities doesn’t extradite him. ing. His ransom is over $2 billion.
Mr. Toumaji has been making Iran’s voice heard, and now it is time for us to make his voice heard, in addition to all different political prisoners in Iran who risked their lives for fact and freedom. The similar is true.