Popular Iranian rapper Toomaj Salehi was imprisoned for participating in the 2022 protest movement in Iran. He has been released after serving his sentence.

The 34-year-old singer was arrested in October 2022 after publicly supporting the protests that erupted in September, sparked by the death in custody of Jina Amini, a young Kurdish woman arrested by morality police who accused her of violating Iran’s strict dress code for women.

The rapper was released in November 2023 but arrested again about ten days later. "Toomaj Salehi, sentenced to one year in prison for propaganda against the political system, was released from prison on Sunday after serving his sentence," the judiciary’s Mizan said on Sunday evening.

The rapper had supported the protest movement with his songs and on social media. His defense said Salehi had been charged with "inciting sedition, gathering, conspiracy, propaganda against the system and calling for riots."

In January, another singer, Mehdi Yarrahi, who had criticized the requirement for women to wear the veil, was sentenced to two years and eight months in prison on several charges. The court later changed the sentence to house arrest, due to the singer’s health problems.

Popular singer Shervin Hajipour, whose song Baraye had become the anthem of the protests, was convicted in March of "propaganda activities against the Islamic Republic" and "inciting riots." Hundreds of people were killed and thousands arrested during the mass protests. Ten men were hanged after being convicted in connection with the protest movement following the death of Jina Amini.