Mr. President, on April 24, the judicial authorities of the Islamic Republic of Iran announced the death sentence handed down to Toomaj Salehi, a rapper and activist with the Women, Life, Freedom movement.
"True death is the death of resigning oneself to despair," Salehi says in his texts. We, therefore, call on France to react and raise its voice. You are familiar with the Woman, Life, Freedom movement, which was born after the death of the young Mahsa Jina Amini, Mr. President, because you supported it, notably on November 12, 2022, when you welcomed four Iranian human rights activists to the Elysée Palace: Masih Alinejad, Ladan Boroumand, Shima Babaei and Roya Pirayi.
On the same day, in an interview with France Inter, you expressed your admiration, respect, and support for the Iranian people's struggle, because it is a struggle for the values of our motto, for a universal freedom in which we believe in France.
The Islamic Republic's response to this pacifist and universal movement has been cruel and unrestrained repression. The NGO Iran Human Rights has documented 537 demonstrators killed and many others arbitrarily imprisoned and tortured. One of the Iranian regime's weapons for silencing dissidents is the death penalty.
According to a report by the association Ensemble Contre la Peine de Mort (Together Against the Death Penalty), at least 834 people were executed in Iran in 2023, marking an increase in the death penalty by 43% in one year, the highest rate since 2015.
Rap as a political tool
Salehi, a popular artist in Iran, is one of the leading figures in the movement. The rap artist took the risk of protesting, but above all was a catalyst for the ideals of an Iranian population eager for freedom and democracy.
Rap, which Salehi handles with ardor, has proved to be a formidable political tool, denouncing the regime's totalitarianism and corruption, and encouraging the people to stand as one and rise for freedom.
For his stance, Salehi was arrested on October 30, 2022, and severely tortured during the first days of his detention, before being placed in solitary confinement for several months. Released on bail on November 19, 2023, he immediately published a video denouncing the physical and psychological torture to which he had been subjected. With unprecedented courage, he blamed the corruption of the justice system, which sentenced him to six years and three months in prison for "corruption on earth."
Salehi was violently arrested again on November 30, 2023, and sentenced to death on April 24, 2024, for the same offenses he was charged with a year earlier. Alongside him, other opponents were sentenced to death for taking part in nationwide demonstrations in support of the Woman, Life, Freedom movement.
You have 47.87% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only.