Amnesty urges action for release of jailed Iranian rapper Toomaj

Amnesty International launched a "Take Action" appeal on Thursday, urging the public to demand the “immediate and unconditional release” of dissident rapper Toomaj Salehi as authorities issued new charges.

The organization called on its supporters to send letters to Iran’s head of judiciary, Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, advocating for Salehi's release and the dropping of all charges against him.

On July 10, intelligence agents interrogated Salehi without a lawyer present, focusing on new cases related to his song "Typhus," which was released in March 2024 while he was imprisoned.

Salehi now faces four charges: “spreading propaganda against the system” and “inciting people to war and killing with the intention to disrupt national security” before the Revolutionary Court, and “insulting religious sanctities” and “spreading lies with the intention of disturbing public opinion” in a criminal court.

Amnesty warned that if convicted on these charges, Salehi faces prolonged imprisonment.

In the song, Salehi criticizes state-supported rappers in a style known as a "diss" in the hip-hop genre. None of the charges, including inciting war, spreading propaganda, insulting religious sanctities, or disturbing public opinion, are evidenced in the track. Amnesty International has labeled these charges as “spurious,” noting that Salehi is being targeted solely for his peaceful exercise of human rights, including freedom of expression through his music.

The Iranian judiciary has a history of building cases against dissidents on trumped-up charges to silence dissent. Negin Niknaam, an Iranian activist and Salehi's social media manager, told Iran International English on Friday that Iran's intelligence agencies have levied new charges against Salehi to prevent his release on bail after previous efforts to execute him sparked global outrage.

Salehi was first arrested on September 13, 2021, in a separate case following the release of the track “Mouse Hole.” He was arbitrarily detained for a second time on October 30, 2022, during Iran’s nationwide Women, Life, Freedom uprising on various charges including “corruption on earth” for which he was sentenced to death in April 2024.

Although he was granted bail on November 18, 2023, the 33-year-old rapper was re-arrested less than two weeks later on new charges of "publishing falsehoods" and “propaganda against the state” for which he was sentenced to one-year imprisonment after releasing a video detailing his torture experiences in custody. Currently, Salehi remains imprisoned at Dastgerd Prison in Esfahan serving the one-year prison sentence while awaiting the legal outcome of the 2022 case against him following the overturning of his death sentence. However, since his arrest in October 2022 Salehi has been in prison for almost 2 years.

However, with the new charges brought against the rapper and the pending re-sentencing from the 2022 case, his fate remains unknown.

Amnesty further noted that Salehi continues to suffer from torture-related injuries, including pain in his leg and hands for which he needs surgery, but the authorities have denied him access to adequate medical care.