Iran’s Supreme Court has overturned the death sentence of popular rapper Toumaz Salehi, who was jailed for supporting nationwide protests following the death of Mahsa Amini, his lawyer said on Saturday.
“Saleh’s death sentence has been overturned,” the rapper’s lawyer, Amir Raisian, said in a post on X. He said the Islamic republic’s top court had ordered a retrial.
In April, an Iranian court sentenced Salehi to death for the crime of “corruption on earth,” Raisian said at the time.
The rapper was also found guilty of “aiding, gathering and conniving in treason, propaganda against the state and calling for riots,” the lawyer said.
Salehi, 33, was arrested in October 2022 after publicly supporting demonstrations that erupted following the death of Amini in police custody a month earlier.
Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurd, was detained by morality police in Tehran for allegedly violating the Islamic republic’s strict dress rules for women.
“The Supreme Court has prevented an irreparable judicial error,” Raisian said. He added that the court also ruled that Salehi’s “previous sentence (6 years and three months) was also without compliance with the rule of multiplicity of crimes.”
Hundreds of people, including dozens of security personnel, were killed in months of protests following Amini’s death.
Thousands of people were arrested in a crackdown by authorities to suppress “riots” instigated by foreigners.
In January, another singer, Mehdi Yarahi, who criticized the mandatory wearing of head scarves for women, was sentenced to a total of two years and eight months in prison on multiple charges, to be served concurrently.
The court later changed Yarahi’s sentence to house arrest due to his health problems.
Nine people have been executed in connection with protests that were linked to killings and other violence against security forces.
Neck and head coverings have been mandatory for women in Iran since 1983, following the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Since the protests, women have increasingly violated the strict dress code, but Iranian police have in recent months tightened controls on women who ignore the rules.
Iranian media have reported in recent weeks that police in the capital have launched a campaign codenamed “Noor,” the Persian word for light, aimed at doubling down on dress code violators.
In an effort to tackle hijab law breakers, authorities have also closed cafes and restaurants where the wearing of the hijab was not respected.
The country’s parliament also approved a draft “Purity and Hijab” law that seeks to toughen penalties for women who fail to comply with dress codes.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)