Winnipeg crowd gathers in support of Iranian rapper sentenced to death – Winnipeg | 24CA News
More than two dozen folks marched in Winnipeg this weekend in solidarity with a person dealing with the loss of life sentence in Iran.
Toomaj Salehi, an Iranian, was sentenced to loss of life earlier this week, in response to his lawyer. He had been detained by officers within the aftermath of the loss of life of Masha Amini, following her arrest by members of the nation’s Revolutionary Guard in 2022.
That incident led to nationwide protests and mass arrests by authorities forces.
Salehi, a rapper, had criticized the Iranian authorities in his songs. Referencing Amini in a single music, he sang, “Someone’s crime was dancing with her hair in the wind.”
Iran’s state-run media and officers haven’t but confirmed the 33-year-old rapper’s sentence.
Here at residence, Arian Arianpour joined a number of folks outdoors the Canadian Museum of Human Rights on Saturday to protest the sentence and lift public consciousness.
“This week, the Islamic Republic regime issued yet another death sentence for Toomaj Salehi. One of the most prominent artists and advocates of the ‘Women, Life, Freedom’ revolution,” mentioned Arianpour, who can be the president of the Iran Community of Manitoba.
“But he is not the only one who is in grave danger of being executed. Countless other people are in grave danger.”
He famous that such loss of life sentences are utilized by the Iranian authorities to intimidate folks. But the folks, he mentioned, and particularly Iranian ladies have proven valour.
“They will not back down until they free Iran,” he mentioned.
While Iranian officers have but to substantiate the sentence, U.S. State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel condemned it on Wednesday,
“This is just another example of the Iranian regime’s horrific and pervasive human rights abuses,” Patel mentioned.
“…(T)he Iranian regime’s … use of the death sentence as a tool to suppress people’s human rights and fundamental freedoms.”
— with information from The Associated Press’s John Gambrell.
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