Rehearing of death penalty case against Iranian rapper

Iran’s Supreme Court has ordered the retrial of a Kurdish rapper who was reportedly sentenced to death for violent protests during the protests that followed the killing of Mehsa Amini.

Mehsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish woman, was arrested in Iran on September 16 for allegedly violating the conservative country’s dress code, but later died in the custody of Iran’s morality police. After that, protests broke out across the country. Iran executed two people in connection with these protests this month. The Iranian judiciary has sentenced another 11 of the arrested protesters to death.

On Saturday, Meezan, the Iranian judiciary’s online website, said that in addition to Kurdish rapper Suman Seidi, also known as Suman Yassin, the trial of another arrested man, Mohammad Ghobadlou, will be retrialed. However, a few hours later Meezan issued a new statement from the Supreme Court saying that Ghobadlu’s appeal had been rejected and his conviction had been upheld. No further details were given.

Human rights organizations outside Iran have said Seidi and Ghobadlou face the death penalty for their involvement in the protests. Meezan did not elaborate on the verdicts but confirmed that the two protesters have been charged with crimes punishable by death.

Ghobadlou was charged with “rioting on the ground” under local Islamic law after “a car attack that killed a policeman and injured five others” in Tehran. Saidi was accused of “muharbiya”, which means “enmity against God”. Human rights groups say the rapper has also been accused of firing a pistol into the air three times during the protests.

The development comes three days after Meezan announced that the Supreme Court had ordered the retrial of Sidrat, who was sentenced to death for serious crimes during the protests.

Iran has arrested thousands of people on the charge of spreading unrest through these protests. According to official data, more than 200 people have been killed in these protests so far, including dozens of security personnel. Foreign rights groups say security forces have killed more than 450 people in a crackdown on the protest movement.

Iranian authorities have already executed two youths for protesting. 23-year-old Majidreza Rehanward was publicly hanged on December 12 after being sentenced to death by a court in Mashhad for stabbing two members of the security forces to death.

After that, 23-year-old Mohsin Shikari was also hanged for injuring a member of the security forces. Human rights activists say a dozen other defendants are accused of crimes that could carry the death penalty.