Human Rights Ambassadors from 11 European Countries Condemn Death Sentence for Tomaj Salehi

Hillel Neuer, the executive director of UN Watch, announced a joint statement by human rights ambassadors from eleven European countries condemning the death sentence issued for Tomaj Salehi, a protesting rapper in Iran, by the judiciary of the Islamic Republic. On Wednesday, he wrote on the social media platform X that the signatories of the statement emphasized that "Tomaj Salehi is one of the powerful voices supporting peaceful protests following the death of Mahsa Amini in Iran," and condemned the death sentence against him. The statement further noted that this ruling "is issued in a context where there are severe restrictions on artistic freedom and freedom of expression in Iran, and the death penalty is used as a tool for instilling fear and suppressing dissent." According to the executive director of UN Watch, representatives from France, Germany, the UK, Sweden, Norway, Finland, the Netherlands, Spain, Estonia, Lithuania, and Luxembourg in the UN Human Rights Council are the signatories of this joint statement. These representatives reiterated their "strong and principled opposition" to the death penalty under any circumstances and urged the Iranian government to refrain from using this punishment as a "tool for suppressing dissenting voices." Amir Reisiian, one of Tomaj Salehi's lawyers, announced on May 5 that the death sentence for this protesting singer was issued by the Revolutionary Court of Isfahan regarding a case from 2022, a ruling that had previously been overturned by the Supreme Court. Tomaj Salehi was actively involved in the nationwide protests in Iran, which began following the death of Mahsa Amini in custody of the morality police in late September 2022, and he supported protesters and detainees. UN Watch is a non-governmental organization that monitors the performance of the UN, focusing on defending human rights and combating dictatorship in various countries and addressing double standards in this area. Support from Iranian female artists for Tomaj Salehi, the rapper sentenced to death; the judiciary's response to the death sentence for Mahmoud Mehrabi, a political prisoner: the ruling is preliminary and can be appealed; American lawmakers condemned the increase in executions in Iran as a "direct order from Ali Khamenei"; the organization "Censorship Index" called for immediate UN action to stop Tomaj Salehi's death sentence; a protest statement from over 460 "Iran-Iraq War veterans": execute us instead of Tomaj; one execution every 5 hours: a report from the Iran Human Rights Organization on the recent two-week performance of the Islamic Republic.