Iranian dissident rapper Toomaj Salehi cleared of charge after death sentence overturned

Toomaj Salehi, the Iranian dissident rapper who escaped the death penalty earlier this summer has been cleared entirely of the original charges by a lower court in Isfahan, central Iran.

Salehi became a key voice of anti-government dissent in Iran during the 2022 ‘Woman, Life Freedom’ protests, with lyrics that galvanized protesters and urged them to unite. He was sentenced to death after being convicted of “corruption on earth” last year.

But in a reversal of the high-profile case, Salehi’s sentenced was later overturned by the Iranian Supreme Court and referred back to the lower court in Isfahan for re-sentencing.

His lawyer in Iran, Amir Raesian announced on X Tuesday that Salehi had been acquitted.

But the Iranian rapper will remain behind bars for now.

“Today, this branch issued its decision regarding Mr. Salehi’s case by holding a hearing and listening to the arguments of the lawyers of the case,” Salehi’s lawyer Raesian told reformist newspaper Shargh Daily. “According to the decision, Mr. Salehi was acquitted of corruption charges.”

Salehi still faces two legal charges; he has been also accused by Iranian authorities of publishing false statements on social media and disrupting public order. On Wednesday, the Isfahan appellate court referred these two charges to a criminal court after finding that it could not rule on these charges.

Rights advocacy group Index Against Censorship, who have campaigned heavily for Salehi’s release, recently called for his “immediate release” from incarceration.

In a social media post as Salehi faced into his latest hearing on August 9, the group stressed that Salehi should never “have had to spend a single day behind bars, let alone in front of a judge.”