AFP extension
ANNOUNCEMENTS•
Kurdish rapper Saman Seydi will not be executed in Iran for the time being. The country’s Supreme Court upheld his appeal against his death sentence, which means a new judge will hear his case.
Under the stage name Yasin, the rapper makes music about inequality, oppression and unemployment. The official charge against him was that he attempted to kill Iranian security forces during recent anti-regime demonstrations. He is also said to have set fire to a trash can and shot three times into the air.
The artist was initially held in Evin Prison, where dissidents and critics of the regime are held. According to a Kurdish human rights organization, he was tortured there.
“Yasin’s” mother recently posted a video on social media trying to save her son from the death penalty. “Where in the world do they take the life of a loved one for setting fire to a trash can,” her mother told foreign media.
Not well studied
The Supreme Court has now referred the case against Seydi to another judge, but that does not apply to another protester who has been sentenced to death. That punishment remains. The man, Mohammad Qabadloo, was accused of killing a police officer and injuring five others during the protests.
For months there have been demonstrations for more freedom in Iran. Protests are all over the country and the regime is unable to repress them. To dissuade protesters, the authorities have recently resorted to the death penalty. Amnesty International speaks of show trials designed to intimidate participants in the popular uprising.
Two protesters have already been performed. Dozens of others could face the same fate. Family members feel powerless and speak of an unfair judicial process.
The protests were sparked by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini on 16 September. The Kurdish-Iranian woman had not covered her head in the street, which according to the police violates the country’s strict Islamic law. Police say she died of a heart attack after they arrested her. Her family and human rights groups call this a lie and claim that she was killed by police brutality.
