Caoilfhionn Gallagher KC

Toomaj Salehi was arrested in October 2022 in connection with his involvement in the “Woman, Life, Freedom” protests which erupted after the death of Mahsa Amini in the custody of Iran’s morality police.

He was sentenced to death in April 2024 for crimes including “corruption on earth” — using his music and activism to support Iranian women and human rights in Iran — but the sentence was overturned by Iran’s Supreme Court in July 2024.

He remained in detention after July on a series of overlapping and shifting charges.

In May 2024, Mr Salehi’s counsel team at Doughty Street Chambers and Index on Censorship filed an urgent appeal with two UN special rapporteurs.

In July 2024, Human Rights Foundation submitted an individual complaint to the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, in conjunction with the counsel team at Doughty Street Chambers and Index on Censorship.

Caoilfhionn Gallagher KC, international counsel for Mr Salehi’s family, Index on Censorship, and Human Rights Foundation, said: “This is a time of celebration: our brave, brilliant client Toomaj Salehi is finally free, after 753 days’ imprisonment.

“Mr Salehi has long used his powerful art — his rapping, his music, his words — to support the ‘Woman, Life, Freedom’ movement and human rights in Iran. For this, the Iranian authorities have targeted him for years, attempting to silence him through arrests, imprisonment, torture, assaults, and even a death sentence.

“But this is also a time for vigilance. Mr Salehi’s release has been achieved through sustained pressure upon the Iranian authorities, both inside and outside Iran. The world must not look away now: we must ensure Mr Salehi remains free and is never again subjected to the egregious violations of his rights which he has endured over the past 753 days.”

Mr Salehi’s cousin, Arezou Eghbali Babadi, said: “The regime tried to silence Toomaj with a death sentence, tortured him to death to break his spirit, and now, after so much pain and injustice, they released him. The truth is: Toomaj should never have been in prison at all.

“And the root cause still remains — the inhumanity of the regime in Iran, a system that thrives on oppression and fear. That’s why we must remain vigilant to ensure Toomaj stays safe and his voice for freedom is never silenced again.”