Toomaj Salehi was arrested a month ago in Isfahan. Now the courts have revealed the crime for which he is accused, “corruption on earth”, which can be punished by hanging in the regime of the ayatollahs.
Iranian rapper Toomaj Salehi faces a possible death penalty after being accused by the Justice of “corruption on earth” , a charge that encompasses a series of crimes against public security and Islamic morality and can be punished by hanging in Iran. Salehi had expressed his support for the anti-regime protests sparked by the death of Jina Mahsa Amini.
The rapper and dissident, known by his first name Toomaj, also faces charges of “propaganda against the regime, cooperation with hostile states, spreading lies, inciting violence,” the official ISNA news agency reported on Sunday. . Two participants in the demonstrations have been sentenced to death, the last one last week and the first two weeks ago.
A US-based human rights group tweeted on Saturday that Toomaj Salehi’s trial had begun “without a lawyer of his choosing”, with his family saying his “life is in grave risk”. “The trial has not started yet, but the charges against Toomaj Salehi have been drawn up and returned” to the court in Isfahan, Assadollah Jafari, the central province’s judicial chief, was quoted as saying by the official judiciary website, Mizan Online.
The musician was arrested at the end of October for “having played a key role in creating riots and calling and fomenting the recent riots in Isfahan province and in the city of Shahinshahr,” the city prosecutor said at the time. from Isfahan, Mohamad Musavian. His arrest came shortly after he told Canadian broadcaster Canadian Broadcasting Cooperation: “This is a mafia that is willing to kill the entire nation to keep its power, money and weapons.”
A few days later, state television published a video of the musician in which he allegedly confessed to his crimes. “I was wrong, I said that, as a friend, I say that you escape”, “I was wrong”, “I was not referring to you” he says in the confession, which after its publication generated the fury of several activists on social networks, who condemned the recording as a forced confession.
The musician has already faced the authorities in the past and was sentenced to six months in prison and a fine in January 2022 for “provoking violence and insurrection”, although the prison sentence was suspended.