US Group Condemns “Brutal” Sentence against Iranian Rapper

The open expression advocacy group PEN America has called for the immediate release of prominent Iranian rapper Toomaj Salehi, who was handed a long-term prison sentence for supporting protests that rocked the country last year.

Salehi was sentenced to six years and three months in prison on the charge of "corruption on Earth," his lawyer said on July 10. Following his closed-door trial, the artist was transferred to the general ward of Isfahan Central Prison after spending 252 days in solitary confinement.

The sentence “is a stark example of the Iranian authorities’ brutal actions,” Julie Trebault, director of PEN America’s Artists at Risk Connection project, said in a statement. “Persecuting musicians solely for their creative and free expression is unacceptable.”

Salehi was arrested in October amid anti-government demonstrations sparked by the September 2022 death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini while she was in police custody for allegedly flouting mandatory headscarf rules. 

The rapper was severely tortured while in custody and denied medical care and any opportunity to see his family. Human rights groups have condemned the lack of due process of the judicial proceedings.

Salehi had released songs that criticized the Iranian government and supported the demonstrations demanding more freedoms and women's rights. He also posted pictures and videos of himself during protests.

More than 520 people have been killed in the security forces’ clampdown on the women-led protest movement and over 19,000 have been unlawfully detained, activists say. Following biased trials, the judiciary has handed down stiff sentences, including the death penalty, to protesters.

In its statement, PEN America also cited the case of Saman Yasin, a Kurdish rapper who was arrested in October and tortured during his detention before being sentenced to death.

The Supreme Court accepted his appeal and ordered a retrial that was supposed to be held in May.

Iran is among the most inhospitable countries in the world for free expression.

Last year, the Islamic Republic was the world’s second largest jailer of writers after China, according to PEN America’s 2022 Freedom to Write Index, which provides an annual count of writers imprisoned worldwide. 

The Iranian authorities imprisoned a total of 57 writers in 2022, including 16 women, making it the largest jailer of women writers globally.