HRF celebrates the release of Iranian dissident rapper Toomaj Salehi

NEW YORK (Dec. 2, 2024) — Iranian dissident rapper Toomaj Salehi was released on Sunday after spending 753 days in arbitrary detention. He has faced continuous judicial harassment for his songs advocating for human rights and democracy in Iran. Most recently, his songs supporting the “Women, Life, Freedom” protests following the September 2022 murder of Mahsa Amini led to a series of charges including “corruption on earth,” which automatically carries a death sentence. 

“The terms ‘kangaroo court’ or ‘sham trial’ fall far short of capturing the travesty of justice Toomaj Salehi endured at the hands of Khamenei’s dictatorship,” HRF CEO Thor Halvorssen said. “While his release is a tremendous relief, the fact remains that Toomaj should never have spent a single day in prison for using his art to expose the regime’s brutal oppression of the Iranian people. Though he cannot recover the time stolen from him, he must never face such persecution again.”

Salehi was first arrested in October 2022 on eight charges. In November 2023, the Supreme Court overturned them, only for him to be rearrested 12 days later after posting a video detailing the torture he endured in detention. On June 22, Iran’s Supreme Court overturned his death sentence, and now, almost six months later, he’s finally been released. 

“This is the power of art, advocacy, and global solidarity. Toomaj spent over two years in arbitrary detention for a song. His story indicates how dictatorships are threatened by freedom of expression and will target dissidents to silence them,” Claudia Bennett, HRF’s legal and program officer, said. “We must continue to pressure the Iranian regime to ensure they do not once again arbitrarily detain Toomaj, but also to ensure the freedom of all the other dissidents in Iran’s prisons.” 

At the 2024 Oslo Freedom Forum in June, Salehi was awarded the 2024 Václav Havel International Prize for Creative Dissent. In July, HRF, along with Doughty Street Chambers and Index on Censorship, submitted a petition to the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention urging them to declare his imprisonment to be arbitrary under international law.

During his detention, Salehi was subject to physical torture, prolonged periods of solitary confinement, and was repeatedly denied medical attention. Unaware that he would be released, Salehi was taken from Isfahan prison by Iranian officials in the middle of the night and was dropped off close to his father’s home, leaving him to find his way back.

The Human Rights Foundation (HRF) is a nonpartisan nonprofit organization that promotes and protects human rights globally, with a focus on closed societies.

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