October 30 marked two years since the violent arrest of Toomaj Saleh, Iranian rebel rapper. Even the fascist Iranian Supreme Court felt compelled to vacate his death sentence after high-level international outcry . But today he is still in prison with no release date!
Many artists and organizations marked this anniversary with renewed demands for Toomaj’s freedom, and also highlighted the enormous bravery of the Woman Life Freedom Uprising two years ago.
To appreciate Toomaj’s stand, watch this music video of “Shallagh (The Whip)”, lyrics and audio by Toomaj and Justina, against the compulsory hijab, published less than three months before the outbreak. Translation to English is by IEC volunteers, and the video is set to scenes from the uprising by @toomajinternationalpage.
In Fall 2022, Toomaj Salehi actively participated in, and through his rebellious songs and lyrics, supported the Woman, Life, Freedom uprising, which was then rocking the whole country, with tens of thousands still in the streets and being arrested, and hundreds being shot down or disappeared.
October 30, 2022: He was brutally arrested and tortured continuously for days at a secret location. After that he suffered 250 days in solitary confinement, much of it without any contact with family or lawyers.
November 18, 2023, Toomaj was released on bail, after the Supreme Court tossed out some of the lower court charges. On November 27, he issued a video detailing his torture in prison —in spite of which he never “named names” or confessed to crimes—and asked his followers to continue to fight for all political prisoners.
November 30, 2023, after just 12 days of freedom, Toomaj was again violently arrested for defaming the Islamic Republic -- for telling the truth about his torture. Then, on April 24, the local court not only reinstated charges which had been thrown out, but now vindictively imposed the death penalty!
June 22, 2023, after massive outcry, the Supreme Court vacated the death sentence and sent the case back. But instead of releasing him on bail as required on July 19, the local court invented new, ridiculous charges (See Islamic Republic Piles Vindictive New Charges on Rapper Toomaj Salehi).
It is Toomaj’s profound sense of solidarity and belief in human beings that have kept him hopeful through these ups and downs. In this light, we are re-sharing the video reading of a poem written for Toomaj in Spanish and English by Berkeley’s first poet laureate, Rafael Jesús Gonzalez, sent to the Evening of Cultural Revolt to Free Toomaj and All Political Prisoners organized by IEC in February 2024. See the video description for the lyrics to “Encarcelado por cantar/Jailed for singing”.
Share the IEC playlist of Toomaj music videos subtitled in English to bring the poetry and uncompromising stand of this brilliant artist to the wide audience he deserves.