Iran urged to spare rapper after 'grotesque' verdict

TEHRAN

Iranian authorities on April 25 faced pressure to release and clear a prominent rapper sentenced to death in a verdict supporters say is merely revenge for his music backing anti-government protests.

Toomaj Salehi, 33, one of the best-known figures arrested in a crackdown on protests that began in 2022, risks being hanged after the conviction on the sharia charge of "corruption on Earth" by a Revolutionary Court.

The verdict, which can still be appealed, stunned activists as the lower court disregarded a move by the supreme court to overturn a prison sentence Salehi had been given on the same charge.

"This grotesque manipulation of the judicial process aims to silence dissent," said Hadi Ghaemi, the executive director of the New York-based Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI).

"Toomaj's imprisonment stems from his vocal advocacy against state oppression."

Supporters used the hashtag #SaveToomaj on social media in a bid to create momentum for an international campaign for his life to be spared.

"This is devastating news and we must all be outraged and do everything in our power to #SaveToomaj. He is a national hero and treasure," the Iran-born British actor Nazanin Boniadi wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

"We call for their immediate release. These are the latest examples of the regime's brutal abuse of its own citizens, disregard for human rights, and fear of the democratic change the Iranian people seek," said the office of the deputy U.S. special envoy for Iran, Abram Paley.

The French foreign ministry said it strongly condemned the "unacceptable" verdict against Salehi, saying it "comes on top of numerous other death sentences and unjustifiable executions linked to the 2022 protests in Iran."

Ten UN experts, who are independent of the United Nations, said they were "alarmed by the death sentence and the alleged ill-treatment of Mr Salehi."

"Art must be allowed to criticize, to provoke, to push the boundaries in any society," they said in a statement.