CNN —
“Someone’s crime was having their hair blowing in the wind. One’s crime was that he or she was brave and outspoken.”
These lyrics could cost the life of the Iranian rap artist Toomaj Salehi. In any other country he could easily have rapped about the everyday problems of his compatriots.
But because he lives in Iran, Salehi’s fate is very different.
The 32-year-old illegal rapper was violently arrested along with two of his friends last Saturday, his uncle said, and now faces accusations of crimes that carry the death penalty, according to Iranian state media.
Up to 14,000 people have been arrested in Iran, including journalists, activists, lawyers and educators, according to a senior United Nations official, during protests that have rocked the country since September.
The unrest was sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini, the 22-year-old Iranian Kurdish woman who died on September 16 after being arrested by the “morality police” and taken to a “re-education center” allegedly for not wearing a hijab properly .
“I woke up at 2 a.m. to a call from Toomaj’s friend saying, ‘Our whereabouts have been leaked,'” Salehi’s uncle Eghbal Eghbali said in an interview with CNN. “Since then we’ve been worried about what happened to Toomaj.”
Eghbali says he learned later that morning from Salehi’s friends that around 50 people had raided his nephew’s home in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province in south-west Iran.
The rapper is accused of “anti-government propaganda activities, collaboration with hostile governments and formation of illegal groups with the intention of creating insecurity in the country,” state-run IRNA said, citing the Esfahan Provincial Judiciary.
Salehi’s uncle said his nephew is currently detained in a prison in the city of Isfahan and has information that he was tortured. Salehi is a resident of Shahin Shahr, about 20 km north of Isfahan.
“We still don’t know anything about Toomaj’s health. The family tried very hard to even hear his voice, but nobody gave us any information about Toomaj,” he said. “We don’t even know if Toomaj and his friends are alive or not.”
Nothing has been heard from Salehi’s friends who were arrested with him over the weekend, boxing champion Mohammad Reza Nikraftar and kickboxer Najaf Abu Ali, Eghbali said.
“The defendant played a key role in creating, inviting and promoting riots in Isfahan Province and in the city of Shahin Shahr,” spokesman for the Isfahan Provincial Judiciary Seyyed Mohammad Mousavian said, according to IRNA.
After his arrest, a short video clip appeared on the state-backed Young Journalists Club (YJC) news agency that appears to show Salehi blindfolded. Salehi appears to be under duress and expressing remorse for statements he made on social media.
Salehi’s uncle insisted that the man in the video was not his nephew, adding that the government had political objectives in releasing the short clip. Eghbali also denies the government’s claim that his nephew was on the run at the time of his arrest.
“Absolutely not,” said Eghbali. “Because where Toomaj lived or where we are in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province, we basically have no way to the border. That’s a very ludicrous claim. Anyone who knows the geography of Iran will not believe this claim.”
Since the nationwide protests began in mid-September, Salehi, who was also arrested in September 2021, according to IRNA, has called on Iranians to protest against the government.
“None of us have any other blood color,” Salehi posted on Instagram. “Don’t forget our amazing union and don’t allow them to create a division between us in this bloody and sad heaven.”
Salehi, himself of Bakhtiari ethnic origin, has long rapped about Iran’s multi-ethnic makeup and promoted unity among Iranians of diverse ethnic backgrounds.
“Stand by us, we stood by you for years,” Salehi raps in his song “Meydoone jang,” which translates to “The Battlefield.”
“It’s not enough to be rebellious, we have revolutionary roots. Arabs, Assyrians, Armenians, Turkmen, Mazandari, Sistani, Baluch, Talysh, Tatars, Azerbaijanis, Kurds, Gilaki, Lor, Farsi and Qashqai, we are the unity of the rivers: we are the sea.”
Days before his arrest, Salehi posted videos of himself on Instagram alongside protesters in the street. Since then, his fans, Iranians in the diaspora as well as musicians and activists, have been demanding his release.
“A lot of rappers came out and supported him,” Iranian rapper, songwriter, and activist Erfan Paydar told CNN. “Toomaj’s courage to protest on the streets has encouraged others to come out and speak out, and got people to think, ‘if he’s ready to come out and he’s not scared, then maybe we shouldn’t be.”
Paydar said Salehi recently shared a message with his trusted friends that should be made public if he is arrested. “You will advance according to my operation. You are my most trusted person,” the message said.
“The priority is with the students and workers, you will cover all protest calls, you will not support any party or group, you will not write much about the prisoners unless their condition is deteriorating and they have no voice. Concentrate on offense, not defense.”
Security forces have arrested several musicians and artists, including two other rappers involved in protests – Emad Ghavidel from Rasht and Kurdish rapper Saman Yasin from Kermanshah.
Released on bail, Ghavidel described in an Instagram post how he was tortured and had his teeth smashed in. According to Hengaw, Yasin was subjected to severe mental and physical torture during his detention and was sentenced to death in a sham trial.
“Toomaj’s mother was a political prisoner,” Salehi’s uncle, who lives in Germany, told CNN. “She died a long time ago… if my sister were still alive, she would become Toomaj’s voice. Same as I am Toomaj’s voice. Same as many who are on the street [in Iran] are the voice of Toomaj.”
Since Mahsa Amini’s death in custody, protesters across Iran have joined forces with the regime over a range of grievances. Meanwhile, the Iranian authorities have stepped up efforts to end the insurgency. Around 1,000 people have been charged in Tehran province for their alleged involvement in the protests, state news agency IRNA reported last week.
The trials of the accused will go public in the coming days, IRNA said, citing Ali Al-Qasi Mehr, the chief judge of Tehran province.
Iranian media said last weekend that the trials of several protesters had begun the previous week.