Supreme Court Overturns Death Sentence of Tomaj Salehi

The lawyer of Tomaj Salehi, the imprisoned protest singer, announced on Saturday that the Supreme Court has overturned the death sentence of this singer. Amir Reisiann wrote on his social media account on Saturday, July 2, 'As expected, the Supreme Court prevented an irreparable judicial error,' and the death sentence of Tomaj was annulled. This attorney added that based on the ruling of the 39th branch of the Supreme Court, the case of this protest singer will be referred to a parallel branch for review. According to Mr. Reisiann, the court emphasized in its 'precise ruling' that even the previous prison sentence of six years and three months was issued 'without observing the rules of multiple crimes' and deemed this action contrary to Article 131 and beyond the legal punishment. In this context, Mostafa Nili, another lawyer for Tomaj Salehi, stated on Saturday in an interview with 'Sharg' network that the 39th branch of the Supreme Court had previously announced that his client 'deserves to benefit from the announced amnesty in 1401,' adding that this ruling remains 'valid.' This attorney also pointed out that this branch has raised objections regarding the charges in Tomaj's case, stating that 'ultimately we will be dealing with three criminal charges,' and based on this, if Mr. Salehi is convicted on all three counts, his sentence will be 'about three and a half years in prison.' Amir Reisiann also mentioned in a separate interview with this media outlet that 'previously, the Supreme Court had raised a defect and thus the case returned to the branch that issued the initial ruling. However, this time the court has annulled the death sentence issued for Tomaj Salehi and referred the case to a parallel branch.' Mr. Reisiann continued by saying that the Supreme Court emphasized 'when the six-year and three-month sentence was issued during the court proceedings for Tomaj Salehi, issuing a sentence beyond this amount in the next stage of the trial is not in accordance with the law.' This attorney had previously reported on May 5 that Tomaj Salehi had been sentenced to death by the Revolutionary Court of Isfahan for his charges related to the year 1401. He stated, 'Our point is that despite [Tomaj Salehi] being among those eligible for the 1401 amnesty, he not only was not pardoned but a death sentence was issued for him.' The news of the death sentence for this protest singer by the Revolutionary Court sparked a widespread global outcry against this ruling. Tomaj Salehi was actively involved in the widespread protests of 1401, which began with the death of Mahsa Zhina Amini in the custody of the morality police, supporting all protesters, detainees, and political activists. Amnesty International stated in a letter published in late May of this year that Tomaj Salehi was tortured during his detention and continuously beaten.