Toomaj

Born Toomaj Salehi on 3 December 1990 in the Iranian province of Tchaharmahal-et-Bakhtiari, the rapper known as Toomaj has been at the forefront of Iran's protest movement sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini following her arrest by the country's morality police in 2022. Originally from the partially nomadic Bakhtiari ethnic group, Toomaj first started rapping in 2016, taking influence from Tupac, and became known for politically charged anthems such as 2021's "Soorakh Moosh," in which he references the Iranian protests, and "Meydoone Jang," which was released a few months after the death of the aforementioned Mahsa Amini. He was arrested first in September 2021—accused of “propaganda against the regime” and “insulting the supreme leadership authority"—and sentenced to six months in prison and given a fine. However, he was arrested again in October 2022 and indicted for “corruption on Earth”, which is punishable by death, the following month. Following his trial in July 2023, he was sentenced to six years and three months in prison. After drawing the support of multiple countries, personalities and America's free speech organisation PEN, he was released for twelve days but arrested again in November 2023.

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