Dissident Iranian Rapper Escapes Death Penalty

Toomaj Salehi, a well-known Iranian rapper, dodged a death sentence, sentenced to over six years in jail, his lawyer revealed Monday.

He was convicted of "corruption on earth" which includes offences related to religious morality and carries the death penalty.

According to his lawyer Rosa Etemad Ansari, Salehi was acquitted of insulting the Supreme Leader and cooperating with hostile governments and had been moved out of solitary confinement into the general section.

In the aftermath of Mahsa Amini's death in police custody in September, Salehi was among the mostly young Iranians who flooded the streets.

As a result of the security forces' crackdown on the protest movement, over 520 people died and nearly 20,000 were unlawfully detained, activists have said. Following sham trials, the judiciary imposed harsh sentences on protesters, including the death penalty.

Earlier, a number of Iranian lawyers and activists expressed concern over the secret trial of Toomaj Salehi.

On June 22, representatives of the German, Austrian, New Zealand, and Italian parliaments, who have become Salehi's political sponsors, announced that the court proceedings concerning the singer's charges were held 230 days after his arrest without media coverage or official notification.

Three parliament members of Germany, Italy and Austria also demanded access to his file.

Inside Iran, public protests were held against the imprisonment of the dissident singer with people chanting slogans or putting up posters of Salehi in various cities.

The Iranian diaspora also organized several rallies across Europe and America in recent months to support Salehi and other political prisoners.

The 33-year-old rapper had criticized the Iranian regime in songs and music videos that were widely shared online.