Report on the Court Hearing of Tomaj Salehi; Lawyer: Court Decision to be Announced in a Week

The Ham-Mihan website has published an exclusive report on the quiet court hearing of Tomaj Salehi, in which his lawyer explains the charges against him and the court proceedings. According to the lawyer, the charges against Tomaj include 'corruption on earth, collaboration with a hostile government, propaganda against the regime, and incitement to chaos.' Amir Reisiann told Ham-Mihan: 'Today (Sunday), the court was held under the presidency of Mr. Barati, and ultimately, the court announced the conclusion of the proceedings; accordingly, the court will issue a verdict, and the decision will be communicated to us within a week.' In response to the question of 'What are the most important charges against Tomaj and what was the indictment?' he stated: 'The most important charges are corruption on earth, with the explanation that the prosecutor's office claims my client has committed widespread dissemination of falsehoods through his tweets, ultimately leading to corruption on earth; another charge is an interview with CBC, a Canadian media outlet, which is considered collaboration with the Canadian government, and since the Canadian government is considered a hostile government by the Isfahan prosecutor's office, this interview is deemed collaboration with a hostile government.' According to Mr. Reisiann, another charge against Tomaj Salehi is 'inviting people to express their demands and requests' and 'calling for chaos and unrest.' Other charges against Tomaj Salehi include 'propaganda against the Islamic Republic,' 'insulting the founder of the revolution and the leadership of the regime,' 'disruption of public order,' and 'dissemination of falsehoods,' which were attributed to the client in the indictment. Tomaj Salehi's lawyer stated: 'All charges were responded to, and our defenses regarding Mr. Salehi's charges were presented for each individual charge. The total time for meeting with the client was half an hour in the Isfahan intelligence detention center, and the volume of charges was beyond what we could explain to the client in this half hour.' Earlier, following the news of Tomaj Salehi's court hearing, Yvonne Re, a member of the German parliament and one of Tomaj Salehi's political sponsors, tweeted by resharing the news regarding the secretive second session of Tomaj's court behind closed doors, asking: 'What is the Iranian regime afraid of?' He further warned that Tomaj's verdict could be announced at any moment, and therefore, awareness about him should be raised, and silence should not be maintained. The secretive holding of Tomaj Salehi's second court session comes while the U.S. State Department last week, referring to the non-public nature of Tomaj Salehi's first court session and his lack of access to a lawyer, stated that it is 'carefully' monitoring the situation of this imprisoned protester. On Saturday, July 3, the State Department expressed deep concern over 'the regime's violent treatment of Tomaj' and called for an end to it, recalling previous reports about 'torture' of Tomaj Salehi during his detention and 'his need for urgent medical care.' The U.S. State Department described the situation of this imprisoned protester as 'the latest example of the regime's ongoing repression aimed at silencing and intimidating dissenters' and called on Iranian officials to 'release Tomaj Salehi and all political prisoners.' Additionally, Tomaj Salehi's political sponsors had previously reported the holding of the first court session of this imprisoned rapper on Sunday, June 18, behind closed doors. Representatives from the parliaments of Germany, Austria, and Italy, who are among Tomaj Salehi's political sponsors, noted in a joint statement that this non-public court was held 'without official announcement' and 'without media coverage.' Iqbal Iqbali, Tomaj Salehi's uncle, previously stated in an interview with Voice of America that Tomaj Salehi's works stem from the pain of the people, emphasizing that he has 'been under severe torture, and the holding of his previous court via video conference confirms this torture.'