On November 30, 2023, protest rapper Toomaj Salehi experienced a renewed arrest in Babol by security forces, taken to an undisclosed location despite his recent release on bail from Dastgerd Prison, Isfahan, on November 18.
The apprehension unfolded on a Babol street using violence by the agents, leaving the grounds for his arrest and his current location shrouded in uncertainty.
This influential protest rapper was granted bail on November 18 from Dastgerd Prison in Isfahan, after the Supreme Court overturned his verdict. According to Amir Raisian, Salehi’s lawyer, Branch 39 of the Supreme Court reviewed Salehi’s case, identified defects in the indictment, and subsequently annulled the previous verdict. Consequently, the case was returned to the Isfahan Revolutionary Court. “Salehi, benefiting from a general pardon, should have been released without the need for bail,” his lawyer asserted.
In July of this year, Salehi received a six-year and three-month sentence, along with a travel ban, a prohibition on music production, and mandatory participation in behavior management and knowledge skills courses for two years.
In late October 2022, Salehi was detained by security forces during nationwide protests. Despite official media claims of his attempt to leave the country illegally, individuals close to Salehi contested this narrative.
It is noteworthy that the protest singer has a prior conviction in a separate legal case. On January 12, 2022, he was sentenced to a six-month prison term and fined, with the imprisonment suspended for one year.
