Iran's judiciary confirms rapper Toomaj Salehi death sentence

Iran's judiciary confirmed the death sentence of well-known Iranian rapper Toomaj Salehi but added that he is entitled to a sentence reduction, state media reported on Thursday.

Salehi's lawyer Amir Raisian told Sharq newspaper on Wednesday that an Iranian Revolutionary Court had sentenced his client to death for charges linked to Iran's 2022-2023 unrest.

Salehi was arrested in October 2022 after making public statements in support of the nationwide protests, sparked by the death in police custody of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish Iranian woman arrested over wearing an "improper" hijab.

On Thursday the judiciary's media department confirmed Salehi's death sentence based on charges of "corruption on earth," adding that the verdict entitled the defendant to a sentence reduction due to "his expression of remorse and cooperation with authorities."

Salehi has 20 days to appeal his sentence with the Supreme Court. If the sentence is upheld, the judiciary's amnesty commission would review his case to potentially commute his sentence, the judiciary media's department added.

In 2023, Iran's Supreme Court had rejected Salehi's charges of "corruption on earth," a capital offence under Iran's Islamic laws. The ruling has not been enforced, however, in what Salehi's lawyer called "an unprecedented move" by the judiciary.

The hashtag #FreeToomaj has been trending on social media platforms such as X, with users calling for Salehi's immediate release.

(Reporting by Dubai Newsroom. Editing by Gerry Doyle)