Mojgan Eftekhari, the mother of the late Jîna (Mahsa) Amini, urged Iranian authorities to lift the death sentence imposed on dissident rapper Toomaj Salehi and prevent further suffering.
“Do not allow Toomaj’s mother’s heart to mirror mine; let Toomaj breathe so that his mother does not suffocate,” she said as quoted by VoA.
Rap artist Toomaj Salehi, of Kurdish-Iranian dissent, was sentenced to death last week for supporting nationwide protests which sparked in 2022 over the brutal killing of Amini by the country’s ‘morality police’. Salehi has faced torture and solitary confinement since his arrest in October of the same year, his lawyer reported.
Harsin Educators Association and educators from the Alborz province, located near the capital Tehran, condemned the inhumane verdict against Salehi, labelling it a suppression of dissent.
“Art does not succumb to torture, incarceration or execution, as it embodies the essence of humanity itself,” the Harsin association said.
On Friday, the Teachers Guild from Iran’s southwestern Fars Province added that Salehi’s death sentence was a stark reflection of how judicial disparities favour economic criminals over artists.
“These are dire times. It is a stark reflection of our era when the judiciary turns a blind eye to the hands of embezzlers and financial criminals, yet keenly listens to the voices of artists, fearing they might utter the words, ‘I love you,'” the guild stated.
Rapper Salehi, a vocal critic of the regime and an advocate for the Jin, Jiyan, Azadî (Women, Life, Freedom) movement, has become a symbol of resistance, with educators and activists across Iran demanding his release and a re-evaluation of the judicial processes that led to his sentencing.
