‘Iran rapper could face death penalty’
Salehi is charged with ‘corruption on earth’, one of the Islamic republic’s most serious offences
Tehran, Iran - An Iranian rapper who expressed support for antiregime protests is charged with ‘corruption on earth’ and could face the death penalty, judicial authorities confirmed on Sunday.
A Us-based rights group had tweeted on Saturday that Toomaj Salehi’s trial had begun ‘without a lawyer of his choice’, and his family said his ‘life is at serious risk’. ‘The trial has not yet begun but the charge against Toomaj Salehi has been drafted and sent back’ to the court in Isfahan, said Assadollah Jafari, judicial chief in the central province, according to the judiciary’s Mizan Online website.
Salehi is charged with ‘corruption on earth’, according to the judiciary, one of the Islamic republic’s most serious offences. He is also accused of spreading ‘lies on the internet, propaganda against the state, of having formed and managed illegal groups with the aim of disrupting security in cooperation with a government hostile’ to Iran, and of inciting people to violence.
Iran’s judiciary says more than 2,000 people have been charged since the start of the protests. Salehi is among a number of prominent figures detained.
The September 16 death in morality police custody of Mahsa
The trial has not yet begun but the charge against Toomaj Salehi has been drafted and sent back to the court in Isfahan
Amini, 22, for allegedly breaching the strict dress code for women, sparked nationwide demonstrations. Authorities call them ‘riots’ and say they are encouraged by Iran’s Western ‘enemies’.
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk says around 14,000 people have been arrested over the protests.
Salehi had disappeared at the end of October before appearing in a video published on November 2 by Iran’s state news agency IRNA. The video claimed to show the first images of Salehi after his arrest. In it, the man says: “I am Toomaj Salehi. I said I made a mistake.”
Rights activists condemned the recording as a forced confes
sion. His detention came shortly after he told the Canadian Broadcasting Cooperation: “You are dealing with a mafia that is ready to kill the entire nation... in order to keep its power, money and weapons.”
Iran’s judiciary has already confirmed six death sentences over the protests, and rights group Amnesty International says that based on official reports at least 21 people currently on trial are charged with crimes that could see them hanged.
Khamenei’s niece arrested
Meanwhile, Iranian authorities have arrested a niece of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei after she recorded a video describing the authorities led by her uncle as a ‘murderous and childkilling regime’.
Farideh Moradkhani comes from a branch of the family that has a record of opposition to Iran’s clerical leadership and has herself been jailed previously in the country.
Her brother Mahmoud Moradkhani wrote on Twitter that she was arrested on Wednesday after going to the office of the prosecutor following a summons.
Then on Saturday her brother posted a video on Youtube, with the link shared on Twitter, where she condemned the ‘clear and obvious oppression’ Iranians have been subjected to, and criticised the international community’s inaction.
“Free people, be with us! Tell your governments to stop supporting this murderous and childkilling regime,” she said.
“This regime is not loyal to any of its religious principles and does not know any law or rule except force and maintaining its power in any way possible.”
It was not clear when the video had been recorded.
ASSADOLLAH JAFARI