Dissident Iranian rapper Toomaj Salehi released after death sentence overturned

Iranian rapper Toomaj Salehi, who was jailed for involvement in nationwide protests, has been released from prison after serving his term, the judiciary said.

Salehi, 34, was arrested in October 2022 after publicly backing demonstrations that erupted a month earlier, triggered by the death in custody of Iranian Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini.

Salehi had been sentenced to death in April by a revolutionary court on charges linked to unrest in the country from 2022 to 2023, although Iran’s Supreme Court overturned that sentence in June.

The singer had used his songs and social media to back the protests that followed Amini’s death days after her arrest for an alleged breach of the Islamic Republic’s strict dress code for women.

“Toomaj Salehi, sentenced to one year in prison for propaganda against the political system, was released on Sunday after serving his sentence,” the judiciary’s Mizan Online website said.

His defense team said he had been charged with “inciting sedition, gathering, conspiracy, propaganda against the system and calling for riots” during the months-long protests.

The demonstrations saw hundreds of people killed, including dozens of security personnel. Thousands were arrested as authorities moved to quell what they branded foreign-instigated “riots.”

In January, another singer, Mehdi Yarrahi, who criticized the headscarf requirement for women, was sentenced to two years and eight months in prison on multiple charges.

The court later changed Yarrahi’s sentence to home confinement due to health issues.

Iran has executed 10 men in protest-related cases involving killings and other violence against the security forces.

Covering the neck and head has been compulsory for women in Iran since 1983, following the 1979 Islamic Revolution.