The Václav Havel Foundation Award to be Presented to Tomaj Salehi

Tomaj Salehi, the protesting artist currently imprisoned in Dastgerd prison in Isfahan, will receive the Václav Havel Foundation's 'Disturbing the Peace' award as a 'Writer in Danger.' The annual 'Disturbing the Peace' award is given in memory of Václav Havel, a writer and politician from the Czech Republic, by a foundation named after him to writers who passionately commit to human rights and have faced unjust persecution for their work. An account attributed to Tomaj Salehi on X, managed by his close associates, announced on Wednesday, October 4, 'We are proud to announce that Tomaj Salehi has won the 'Disturbing the Peace' award as a Writer in Danger.' According to this account, Kailfin Gallagher, an international human rights lawyer and activist, will receive the award on behalf of Tomaj and his family during a ceremony in New York on Wednesday night. The Václav Havel Foundation has stated that Tomaj Salehi, a 33-year-old Iranian rapper, is known for his provocative music and videos addressing social issues, women's rights, and human rights violations, and he will jointly receive the 2024 award with Arundhati Roy, an Indian author. Tomaj Salehi was arrested during nationwide protests on October 30, 2022. He was released on bail a year later but was re-arrested just a few days later on December 3, 2023. The first branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Isfahan sentenced this protesting singer to death on April 30 of this year for 'conspiracy and collusion, and complicity in rebellion.' This sentence was later overturned by the Supreme Court. Tomaj Salehi's lawyer recently announced that despite the artist being acquitted of the charge of 'corruption on earth' and the issuance of a ban on prosecution for other charges, he remains in prison due to the formation of a new case against him. According to Amir Reysian, the new case regarding one of Tomaj Salehi's songs and the charges of 'insulting the sacred' and 'calling for chaos and riots' against this government-critical artist have led to his continued imprisonment. Human rights organizations and activists have consistently criticized the suppression of freedom of expression and the security and judicial actions against protesters and dissenters in Iran. Previously, Brad Sherman, a Democratic representative in the U.S. House of Representatives, criticized the lack of medical care for Tomaj Salehi and called for the release of this imprisoned rapper and all political prisoners 'under violence' in the prisons of the Islamic Republic. This congressman stated, 'Tomaj Salehi, who has been tortured by the Islamic Republic for his support of a free Iran and the Women, Life, Freedom movement, has been deprived of medical care and is at risk of disability.' He emphasized that 'Tomaj and all Iranian political prisoners under the violence of this regime must be freed.'