On 24 April 2024 Iranian songwriter and rapper, Toomaj Salehi, was sentenced to death for using his voice and his music to call out the human rights abuses of the Iranian regime.
Salehi’s death sentence is the culmination of three years of judicial harassment, including arrest, imprisonment and torture. His persecution has intensified since the 2022-23 protests in Iran. These protests, which Salehi supported, followed Mahsa Amini’s death while in the custody of the morality police.
Many of Salehi’s songs refer to the human rights situation in Iran, explicitly criticising the regime and calling for fundamental rights, including women’s rights, to be upheld. Last October, Salehi received Index on Censorship’s Freedom of Expression Award in the arts category.
As artists, musicians, writers and leading cultural figures we stand in solidarity with Toomaj Salehi. We call for his death sentence to be immediately and unconditionally quashed and for him to be released from detention without delay, with all other charges dismissed.
Art must be allowed to criticise, to provoke, to question and to challenge authority. That is both our right and our duty as artists. “Now, free hair is dancing — playing with the wind.” Salehi says in the song Shallagh (Whip) recorded with the Iranian rapper, Justine, supporting the young people taking part in the 2022-23 protests in support of women’s rights.
No artist should be subject to any kind of judicial harassment for exercising their right to freedom of expression, much less be sentenced to death.
SIGNED:
David Aaronovitch, writer and broadcaster
Yasmin Abdel-Magied, writer
Majid Adin, animator and illustrator
Rashad Ali, researcher
Lord David Alton, peer
Sara Amini, theatre director
Ruth Anderson, CEO of Index on Censorship
Kerry Andrew, writer and musician
Professor Ali Ansari, historian
John Armah, culture board trustee
Mona Arshi, poet
Neal Ascherson, writer
Margaret Atwood, writer
Ganjei Babak, visual artist
Tamara Baschak, pianist
Karima Benoune, law professor and former UN Special Rapporteur on Cultural Rights
Steve Beresford, musician and lecturer
Nazanin Boniadi, actress and campaigner
Roya Boroumand, co-founder and executive director of Aborrahman Boroumand Center for Human Rights in Iran
Elli Brazzill, founder, Art Not Evidence
Simon Brodkin, comedian
Bill Browder, writer and human rights campaigner
Tina Brown, CBE, journalist, editor and author
Shereener Browne, actor, theatre maker & barrister
Alastair Campbell, writer and communicator
Matthew Caruana Galizia, director, Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation
Stevie Chick, writer and editor
Jasmina Cibic, artist and filmmaker
Coldplay, musicians
Andrew Copson, chief executive, Humanists UK
Rob da Bank, DJ
Hossein Dabbagh, philosopher
Stephen Dalton, arts journalist
Matthew d’Ancona, journalist and author
Andy Diagram, musician
Jonathan Dimbleby, broadcaster and historian
Kwame Djemjem, teacher
John Doran, writer and editor
Graham Dowdall, musician and lecturer
Catherine Dunne, writer and chair, Irish PEN
Shirin Ebadi, Nobel Laureate
Inua Ellams, writer and curator
Barbara Ellen, journalist
Zlata Filipovic, writer and documentary maker
Lord Daniel Finkelstein, journalist and politician
Viviana Fiorenino, writer and board member, Irish PEN
Cassie Fox, lecturer and musician
Andrew Franklin, publisher, and trustee of Index on Censorship
Caoilfhionn Gallagher KC, human rights lawyer, and acting for Toomaj Salehi’s family
Elizabeth T Grey Jr, poet and translator
Hadi Ghaemi, founder and director of Center for Human Rights in Iran
Maryam Grace, actor and writer
Malu Halasa, writer
Dana Haqjoo, actor
Dr Patrick Hassan, philosopher and musician
Charles Hayward, musician
Lord John Hendy KC, peer and human rights lawyer
Afua Hirsch, writer and broadcaster
Rosie Holt, comedian
Gwyneth Hughes, screenwriter
Bianca Jagger, founder and president of the Bianca Human Rights Foundation Council of Europe Goodwill Ambassador to Abolish the Death Penalty
Lanna Joffrey, actor and writer
Professor David Kaye, former United Nations Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression
Baroness Helena Kennedy KC, peer and human rights lawyer
David Knopfler, recording artist
Shaparak Khorsandi, comic and author
Angela Last, cultural geographer, musician and label owner
Lumli Lumlong, artists
Rahima Mahmut, musician and human rights campaigner
Kate Maltby, writer and deputy chair of Index on Censorship
Colum McCann, writer
Val McDermid, writer and broadcaster
Professor Juan Méndez, former United Nations Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
Fiona Millar, journalist
Keir Monteith KC, barrister
Helen Mountfield KC, principal of Mansfield College Oxford and trustee of Index on Censorship
Joe Muggs, writer
Dr Phil Mullen, musician and educator
Joe Murphy, writer
Azar Nafisi, writer and professor
Ayat Najafi, film director and screenwriter
Roshi Nasehi, musician and theatre-maker
Ramita Navai, journalist
John Norton, radio producer and artist
Sir Ben Okri, poet and novelist
Abenaa Owusu-Bempah, associate professor, London School of Economics
Matthew Parris, writer and broadcaster
Matteo Pericoli, artist
Trevor Phillips, broadcaster and chair of Index on Censorship
Professor Eithne Quinn, University of Manchester academic
Izzy Rabey, director
Nora Rahimian, anti-capitalist business coach and #CultureFix co-founder
Kaveh Rahnama, director and programme creator
Richard Ratcliffe, campaigner
Dafydd Huw Rees, philosopher
Damien Rice, musician
Joe Robertson, writer
Ian Rosenblatt, lawyer and trustee of Index on Censorship
Maryam Sandjari Hashemi, multidisciplinary artist
Philippe Sands, writer
Dr Katherine Schofield, senior lecturer in South Asian Music and history, King’s College London
Elif Shafak, novelist
Kamila Shamsie, novelist
Bill Shipsey, founder and director of Art for Human Rights
Reza Shirmarz, playwright
Peter Sís, artist
Simon Speare, composer and teacher
Mark Stephens, CBE, free speech lawyer, Howard Kennedy LLP and trustee of Index on Censorship
Sting, musician
David Stubbs, writer
Nazli Tabatabai-Khatambakhsh, artist, writer and academic
Ghafar Tajmohammad, artist and curatorial project manager at the Migration Museum
Jade Thirlwall, musician
Mark Thomas, comedian
Salil Tripathi, writer
Roxana Vilk, actor and musician
Amber Wilkinson, journalist
Vanessa Wilson-Best, musician and director of music
Lord Stewart Wood, peer
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, former hostage and campaigner
Liza Zahra, actor
Vahid Zarezadeh, filmmaker
