Activists have condemned the arrest of Toomaj Salehi, a rapper, as a video of him in custody purportedly made to give a forced confession amid ongoing anti-hijab protests in Iran was released by the state media.
India Today Web Desk
New Delhi
Nov 6, 2022
Salehi is the latest prominent figure to be arrested in a mass crackdown that has seen dozens of journalists, lawyers, civil society and cultural figures arrested. (Photo: Twitter)
Salehi is the latest prominent figure to be arrested in a mass crackdown that has seen dozens of journalists, lawyers, civil society and cultural figures arrested. (Photo: Twitter)
Toomaj Salehi, a popular singer and activist, has been arrested by Iranian security forces as a crackdown on anti-hijab voices continues in Iran. The rapper was taken to an undisclosed location by troops, Iranian media reported.
Iranian state media claim Salehi was arrested while trying to cross one of the country's western borders, but his family have denied this, saying he was in the southwestern provinces of Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari at the time.
Toomaj had used his popular media platforms to speak against Iranian authorities and support the nationwide protests in the weeks after the death of 22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian Mahsa Amini, Al-Monitor said in a report.
READ | ‘I too was stopped by morality police’: Actor strips in support of Iran's anti-hijab protests
The rapper's uncle Eghbal Eghbali on Instagram revealed that Toomaj is being subjected to the "cruelest methods of torture". He called on the Iranian people and the international community to save the life of Toomaj.
ALSO READ | Iranians knock turbans off clerics as part of anti-hijab protests
Meanwhile, the Iranian government has said that Toomaj faces charges of “propaganda against the state". Former Iranian diplomat Mohammad Mousavian also accused him of playing a “key role” in encouraging anti-hijab protests in the city of Shahinshahr, an Iranian news agency reported.
RAPPER'S 'BLOODY' CONFESSION
Hours after Toomaj's arrest, videos surfaced of the rapper appearing blindfolded and kneeling. He is heard saying in the video, in a shaking voice, that he made a mistake.
"I am Toomaj Salehi. I said I made a mistake. I said... that you should run. I didn't mean you," AFP quoted him as saying in custody.
Activists have alleged that the confession was forced. Atena Daemi on Twitter lashed out at “extracting a confession with traces of blood and pain” on her official Twitter account.
ALSO READ | Iranian security forces target university campuses as anti-hijab protests swell
Salehi is the latest prominent figure to be arrested in a mass crackdown that has seen dozens of journalists, lawyers, civil society and cultural figures arrested. His detention came shortly after giving an interview highly critical of the regime to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
Earlier, there were reports that celebrity chef Mehrshad Shahidi, who was also known as Iran's Jamie Oliver, was allegedly beaten to death by the nation's Revolutionary Guard forces the day before his 20th birthday.
ALSO READ | Singers, actors in Iran face action for supporting anti-hijab protests
Like Shahidi, hundreds of people have been reportedly killed by Iranian security forces during the protests which began following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who died while in the custody of Iran's morality police after being arrested for not wearing her hijab properly.
Iranian state media claim Salehi was arrested while trying to cross one of the country's western borders, but his family have denied this, saying he was in the southwestern provinces of Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari at the time.
Toomaj had used his popular media platforms to speak against Iranian authorities and support the nationwide protests in the weeks after the death of 22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian Mahsa Amini, Al-Monitor said in a report.
READ | ‘I too was stopped by morality police’: Actor strips in support of Iran's anti-hijab protests
The rapper's uncle Eghbal Eghbali on Instagram revealed that Toomaj is being subjected to the "cruelest methods of torture". He called on the Iranian people and the international community to save the life of Toomaj.
ALSO READ | Iranians knock turbans off clerics as part of anti-hijab protests
Meanwhile, the Iranian government has said that Toomaj faces charges of “propaganda against the state". Former Iranian diplomat Mohammad Mousavian also accused him of playing a “key role” in encouraging anti-hijab protests in the city of Shahinshahr, an Iranian news agency reported.
RAPPER'S 'BLOODY' CONFESSION
Hours after Toomaj's arrest, videos surfaced of the rapper appearing blindfolded and kneeling. He is heard saying in the video, in a shaking voice, that he made a mistake.
"I am Toomaj Salehi. I said I made a mistake. I said... that you should run. I didn't mean you," AFP quoted him as saying in custody.
Activists have alleged that the confession was forced. Atena Daemi on Twitter lashed out at “extracting a confession with traces of blood and pain” on her official Twitter account.
ALSO READ | Iranian security forces target university campuses as anti-hijab protests swell
Salehi is the latest prominent figure to be arrested in a mass crackdown that has seen dozens of journalists, lawyers, civil society and cultural figures arrested. His detention came shortly after giving an interview highly critical of the regime to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
Earlier, there were reports that celebrity chef Mehrshad Shahidi, who was also known as Iran's Jamie Oliver, was allegedly beaten to death by the nation's Revolutionary Guard forces the day before his 20th birthday.
ALSO READ | Singers, actors in Iran face action for supporting anti-hijab protests
Like Shahidi, hundreds of people have been reportedly killed by Iranian security forces during the protests which began following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who died while in the custody of Iran's morality police after being arrested for not wearing her hijab properly.
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