“Free Toomaj”: this demand of demonstrators in Iran was ineffective. A court has sentenced rapper Toomaj Salehi to more than six years in prison. This is reported by international media. The 32-year-old musician was accused of, among other things, “war against God” and “corruption on earth.” Toomaj had criticized the Iranian government in his lyrics even before the death of Jina Mahsa Amini. He had been held incommunicado in Isfahan province since October 30, 2022. In connection with his trial, the European Union had imposed sanctions on responsible parties in June this year, criticizing that the rapper was detained under cruel conditions. Relatives, including Salehi’s uncle in Bochum, and media accused the Iranian regime of torturing him in prison. The Tübingen-born physician and author Gilda Sahebi also repeatedly referred to Salehi’s fate. She gave her book about the “feminist revolt in Iran” the title “Our Sword is Love.” This is a line from Toomaj’s song “Battlefield” (“Meydoone jang”).
See among others:https://www1.wdr.de/nachrichten/ruhrgebiet/verurteilung-rapper-iran-reaktion-familie-bochum-100.html
And page 4 of the Official Journal of the European Union: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/DE/TXT/PDF/?uri=OJ:L:2023:160I:FULL
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Bei ihrer Lesung im April 2023 sprach die Autorin Gilda Sahebi (Zweite von rechts) auch über die lebensbedrohliche Situation des iranischen Rappers Toomaj Salehi. Im Hintergrund ist ein Teil seines Songs „Schlachtfeld“ zu sehen mit der Zeile „Unser Schwert ist Liebe“ – der Titel ihres Buchs über die „feministische Revolution” im Iran. Foto: tünews INTERNATIONAL / Ute Kaiser.
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