Iranian rapper Toomaj Salehi jailed for six years

Fans fear outspoken rapper could be executed for supporting protest movement

Toomaj Salehi, a critic of the Iranian regime, has been sentenced to jail. @OfficialToomaj / Twitter

Iranian authorities have sentenced rapper Toomaj Salehi to more than six years in prison, his lawyer said on Monday.

The decision comes 10 months after anti-regime protests broke out across Iran in the biggest challenge to Tehran's rule in decades.

The musician, 33, was convicted of moharebeh (emnity against God), a charge that often carries the death sentence. He was acquitted of several other charges, including insulting Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, his lawyer Rosa Etemad Ansari told Iranian newspaper Shargh.

There was no immediate comment from Iran's judiciary.

Salehi's large fan base has long voiced concerns that he will be executed. Several protesters have been sentenced to death for joining the widespread rallies after the death of Mahsa Amini in morality police custody last year.

The rapper has been banned from making music for two years after his release, his lawyer added, and will not be allowed to leave the country during that period.

Salehi has been outspoken in his support for protesters who were gunned down in their hundreds as security forces clamped down on anti-regime demonstrations. More than 500 people were killed and almost 20,000 detained, human rights groups claim.

He was arrested in October at the height of protests. Authorities said he was arrested while trying to flee the country, claims his supporters and friends denied.

“Someone's crime was dancing with her hair in the wind,” he raps in a video with more than 450,000 views on YouTube – an apparent reference to Ms Amini, who was arrested after wearing her hijab "inappropriately".

" Forty-four years of your government, this is the year of failure," he says in another verse.

'Extreme risks'

In November, Iranian authorities released footage of a blindfolded Salehi appearing to renounce his previous comments but under duress.

His lawyers said he was allowed to meet them for only half an hour throughout eight months in detention.

It is not the first time the dissident rapper has been arrested over voicing criticism of Tehran. In September 2021 he was arrested and held for eight days over his politically charged lyrics.

“Toomaj rapped about political and social issues that Iranian authorities have long tried to conceal from domestic and foreign audiences to ward off criticism of their repressive policies,” Hadi Ghaemi, head of the Centre for Human Rights in Iran, said in April.

“Toomaj took extreme personal risks by further exposing issues that the state wants to hide, like child labour and political repression, through his art.”

Seven people have been executed in connection with the protests, convicted of moharebeh and killing security officers in trials described by the UN and human rights groups as sham.

While protests have largely waned, regular demonstrations are still held in the southern city of Zahedan, scene of a vicious crackdown by Iranian security officers.

At least 354 people have been executed in the first six months of this year, making Iran one of the world's leading executioners, a tally from Iran Human Rights indicates.