An Iranian rapper who was sentenced to death for supporting anti-government protests has had his sentence overturned on appeal by the Supreme Court, his lawyer said.
Toumaz Salehi was arrested in October 2022 after making public statements supporting explosive protests across Iran.
His lawyer, Amir Lassian, said the Supreme Court has now ordered a retrial, and the judges decided that Salehi's previously imposed prison sentence of six years and three months violated Iran's multiple crimes provisions and exceeded the legal penalty.
Salehi, 32, was first sentenced to prison in July 2023 after being spared the death penalty by a Supreme Court ruling.
But the following January, the Revolutionary Tribunal in the city of Isfahan charged him with new crimes.
He was sentenced to death last April for the serious crime of “earthly corruption.”
The musician was also found guilty of a string of other crimes, including accessory to sedition, inciting a riot, conspiracy and propaganda against the state.
Index on Censorship, a campaign group that has worked with Salehi's family to secure the rapper's release, welcomed the decision to overturn the death sentence.
But “it is important that his rights are properly respected,” he said.
Salehi's case was returned to court for resentencing. “A shorter period of detention would be an injustice,” the censorship index said.
“Salehi has done nothing more than call for his and other Iranians’ basic rights to be respected.”
Through his songs and lyrics, Salehi was notorious for boldly criticizing Iran's leaders for their corruption and suppression of dissent.
He expressed support for the 2022 protests sparked by the death in police custody of Mahsa Amini, a young Kurdish woman in Iran.
Amini, 22, was detained by religious police for wearing an 'inappropriate' hijab while visiting Tehran with her family.
The crackdown on protests resulted in hundreds of deaths and thousands of arrests.
Before the nationwide unrest, Salehi was already an established artist and known as an outspoken person. He posted his song on social media because he was banned from performing in concert.
