Iranian rapper Toomaj Salehi launched from jail months after courtroom overturned dying sentence

Iranian rapper Toomaj Salehi has been launched from jail, months after the courtroom overturned his dying sentence.

The rapper was arrested in October 2022 after backing demonstrations that broke out within the wake of the dying of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, which occurred underneath suspicious circumstances whereas in police custody.

Toomaj Salehi was additionally recognized for utilizing his songs to criticise Iran’s leaders for his or her crackdowns on protests. He was sentenced to dying in April on the capital offence of “corruption on earth” after making statements in assist of anti-government protests in 2022.

Now, in an Instagram put up shared earlier as we speak (December 2), Salehi introduced on social media that he has been free of jail. “Salehi, son of Iran, was launched from Dastgerd Jail as we speak, after struggling 753 days of merciless, unjust, and unjustified re-imprisonment with none motive or documented authorized assist,” its translated caption reads.

Advocacy group Index on Censorship, which had been working with the rapper’s household to overturn the sentence, shared the information on X/Twitter, calling Soomaj “a courageous and good one that ought to by no means have been imprisoned to start with”. A full assertion by the group might be launched tomorrow (December 3).

We welcome the information that Iranian rapper #ToomajSalehi has been launched from jail. Toomaj is a courageous and good one that ought to by no means have been imprisoned to start with. We’ve been proud to assist him since his arrest: https://t.co/ns58AAVXbz @OfficialToomaj

— Index on Censorship (@IndexCensorship) December 1, 2024

Salehi’s dying sentence sparked outcry from human rights organisations and high-profile figures world wide.

Greater than 100 figures from the world of tradition and leisure signed an announcement calling for his launch, together with Coldplay, Sting and Jade Thirlwall of Little Combine.

Salehi had hung out in jail final 12 months and was launched on bail, earlier than describing being “severely tortured” and spending 252 days in solitary confinement following his preliminary arrest, based on an announcement printed by the Workplace of the UN Excessive Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).

He was arrested once more two weeks later in December 2023, when he was charged with “corruption on earth”.

Amnesty Worldwide claimed his trial was “grossly unfair, and authorities dismissed his complaints of torture, together with electrical shocks, dying threats and repeated beatings leading to bone fractures and imaginative and prescient impairment in a single eye”.

A joint assertion from Salehi’s cousin Arezou Eghbali Babadi and good friend Negin Niknaam,  (by way of The Guardian) learn: “The worldwide neighborhood’s solidarity and assist have performed an important position within the launch of Toomaj Salehi.

“We lengthen our heartfelt gratitude to all who contributed in any technique to this end result. Nonetheless, we should not lose sight of the illegal and oppressive guidelines that proceed to exert extreme psychological stress on freedom seekers, their households, and society as a complete in Iran.

“Whereas we urge for Toomaj’s unconditional freedom and sit up for seeing him as quickly as doable, we can not neglect the injustices we confronted throughout this era.”