Iran has sent a hip-hop artist who disrupted hijab protests back to prison
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran sent a popular rapper back to prison less than two weeks after he was released from prison on bail, an Iranian news website reported Thursday.
Mizanonline.ir, an online news outlet affiliated with Iran’s judiciary, said authorities had arrested Toomaj Salehi on a new charge of “spreading propaganda and violating public opinion.”
Salehi was released from prison in mid-November after spending more than a year behind bars on charges that his supporters said stemmed from his arrest. hip-hop music and participating in protests in Iran over the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini. Amini died in the custody of the country’s moral police. wearing her hijab very relaxed.
Earlier this week, Salehi said in a video that he was tortured after his arrest in October 2022, while state media released a video showing him blindfolded and apologizing for what he said, which may have been said under duress.
The court sentenced Salehi in July to more than six years in prison. The lawyer for the defense said earlier this month that the rapper’s appeal allowed him to be released on bail after the High Court returned the case to a lower court.
About 20,000 people have been arrested in Tehran’s crackdown on protests, which have resulted in deaths earlier this year. Eight of these people were killed because of the brutality of the soldiers. They were tried in secret courts where human rights groups say they were denied the right to defend themselves.
