Sentence of Tomaj Salehi Reduced from Death Penalty to Imprisonment
According to published reports, the death sentence of Tomaj Salehi has been reduced to imprisonment.
Tomaj Salehi, an Iranian rap singer, was arrested during nationwide protests for singing songs against the regime on charges of corruption on earth and propaganda against the system, and spent 8 months in solitary confinement in prison.
His court hearing was held in two sessions in closed and confidential manner behind closed doors. Amir Raissian, his defense lawyer, wrote in a tweet: “The interrogation session of Tomaj’s case was held at the Isfahan Prosecutor’s Office this morning. Tomaj participated in the session via video conference and answered the case prosecutor’s questions in the presence of lawyers. We hope that with the elimination of investigation deficiencies, the case will be sent to the court for primary review as soon as possible.”
The “Tasnim” news agency affiliated with the Revolutionary Guards wrote regarding Tomaj Salehi’s sentence: “Based on heard reports, Tomaj Salehi’s death sentence has been reduced to imprisonment due to effective cooperation with the case officials.”
Sources familiar with Tomaj Salehi’s situation reacted to the news published by Tasnim and stated that Tasnim news agency is affiliated with the Revolutionary Guards and security apparatus. Tomaj not only did not cooperate, but despite having his fingers broken and his eyes damaged, which had disrupted his vision for months, they could not extract forced confessions from him. His death sentence was reduced to imprisonment because the regime has become fearful due to the massive gathering of people in reaction to Tomaj’s execution and an even greater revolution. His political sponsors from different countries and the granting of Florence, Italy citizenship to Tomaj have attracted the attention of many parliamentary representatives in different countries and people around the world, and all have called for support for Tomaj. The regime knows that any worse incident against Tomaj will result in a widespread wave of public anger that will be entirely detrimental to a regime on the brink of the precipice.
