An Iranian rapper, arrested in late October after expressing his support for anti-government protests in Iran, faces the death penalty, the country’s judicial authority confirmed on Sunday.
Relatives of Toomaj Salehi said on Saturday that his trial opened the same day behind closed doors without any legal representation and that he was accused of being an “enemy of God” and “corruption on earth”, crimes punishable by death in Iran.
A protest movement
“The trial has not yet taken place but the indictment against Toomaj Salehi has been drafted and sent back” to the courts of Isfahan (center), declared Assadollah Jafari, the head of the Judicial Authority of the province of the same name, cited by the justice agency Mizan Online. “He is charged with corruption on earth by spreading lies on the Internet, propaganda against the system, forming and leading illegal groups with the aim of disrupting security by cooperating with a government hostile to Iran and incited to commit violent acts,” he added.
Iran is the scene of a protest movement sparked on September 16 by the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurd who died after her arrest by the morality police in Tehran.
“Forced confessions”
The authorities denounce these protests as “riots” encouraged according to them by the West. On November 2, the official Irna agency released a video showing, according to it, Toomaj Salehi, blindfolded, saying he had “made a mistake”. “Forced confessions”, denounced activists.
Before his arrest, the rapper had criticized power in a statement to the Canadian channel CBC. “You are dealing with a mafia ready to kill the entire nation (…) in order to keep its power, its money and its weapons”, he said. Justice has already pronounced six death sentences since the beginning of the demonstrations. More than 2,000 people have been charged, according to official figures.