AG百家乐在线官网

Rapper Toomaj Salehi, who was sentenced to death in Iran, is released

Salehi was accused of promoting violence after he used his music to support protests in Iran triggered following the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody. Sting, Coldplay, Dire Straits' David Knopfler and author Margaret Atwood were among those demanding Salehi's release.

Iranian rapper Toomaj Salehi - photo by Hosseinronaghi - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=112679809
Image: Iranian rapper Toomaj Salehi. File pic: Hosseinronaghi
Why you can trust Sky News

Rapper Toomaj Salehi, who was sentenced to death for speaking out against the Iranian regime, has been freed from custody.

He was released from prison on 1 December after completing a one-year sentence, according to Iran's Mizan news agency.

Salehi had been sentenced to death in April by a revolutionary court on charges linked to unrest in the country from 2022 to 2023.

His songs supported protests which were triggered following the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody in September 2022.

The 22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian woman was detained for allegedly wearing an "improper" hijab that flouted Iran's Islamic dress code.

The demonstrations posed the biggest challenge to the Islamic Republic's clerical leaders in decades and gained worldwide support.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

In London, protesters took to the streets in April against Salehi's death sentence

During those protests, Salehi was one of "the leaders of the riots who promoted violence", news site Iran International reported at the time, citing Iran's state-controlled news agency, Fars.

More on Iran

Salehi was arrested in October 2022 after making public statements in support of the nationwide protests.

In 2023, he was sentenced to six years in prison, but then briefly released on bail before being rearrested on further charges. He was sentenced to death in April 2024.

Across the world, demonstrations took place in support of Salehi, including in Spain, France, Germany, the US, Australia and London, where people wore masks of his face and carried signs reading "death sentence for rapping".

FILE - Protesters attend a rally against a death sentence given to Toomaj Salehi, a popular rapper in Iran and to support to the women of Iran, in Berlin, Germany, Sunday, April 28, 2024.  Iran's Supreme Court overturned the death sentence of a government critic and a popular hip-hop artist, Toomaj Salehi ... who came to fame over his lyrics about the death in police custody of Mahsa Amini in 2022 ... his lawyer Amir Raisian said Saturday, June 22, 2024.(AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi, File)
Image: A rally was held in Berlin in April to demand Salehi's release. File pic: AP
A picture of Iranian rapper Toomaj Salehi during a protest in Paris.
Pic: AP
Image: There were also demonstrations in Paris against the rapper's death sentence. File pic: AP

In May, more than 100 artists, musicians, writers and leading cultural figures signed a joint statement, organised by Index on Censorship, demanding his release.

They included Sting, Coldplay, Dire Straits' David Knopfler and author Margaret Atwood, best known for her novel The Handmaid's Tale.

"We stand in solidarity with Toomaj Salehi," the statement read.

"No artist should be subject to any kind of judicial harassment for exercising their right to freedom of expression, much less be sentenced to death."

Get Sky News on WhatsApp
Get Sky News on WhatsApp

Follow our channel and never miss an update.

Read more from Sky News:
Iran's new generation wants change
Discover Iran's 'ambassadors of kindness'

Salehi, who has 2.6 million followers on Instagram, had posted videos after Amini's death talking about "revolution" and resistance.

Iranian officials had claimed Amini had suffered a heart attack and was taken to hospital, but her family blamed the police for her death, and reports say that she was beaten with batons and suffered a brain injury.

Be the first to get Breaking News

Install the Sky News app for free

A United Nations fact-finding mission said in March that Ms Amini's death was unlawful and was caused by "physical violence in the custody of state authorities".

It added that Iranian women still suffer systematic discrimination.

After Salehi was sentenced to death in April, Iran's Supreme Court overturned the decision in June.