“DESPERATION”
The French foreign ministry said it strongly condemned the “unacceptable” verdict against Salehi, saying it “comes on top of numerous other death sentences and unjustifiable executions linked to the 2022 protests in Iran”.
Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani of Italy said he “strongly condemns” the verdict.
Nine men have been executed in protest-related cases involving killings and other violence against security forces. Rights groups have said the trials have been grossly unfair.
At least six other men remain at imminent risk of execution after being given death sentences in cases linked to protests, according to IHR.
Salehi was arrested while in hiding in October 2022 during the peak of the protest movement sparked by the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old arrested by Iran’s morality police for an alleged breach of strict dress rules for women.
The months of protest following Amini’s death on Sep 16, 2022 saw hundreds of people killed including dozens of security personnel, and thousands more arrested.
Rights groups say Salehi was subjected to torture and ill-treatment, forced to repent on camera and denied medical treatment and access to his lawyer.
Salehi was subsequently released on bail after spending over a year behind bars but was rearrested less than two weeks later after saying he was tortured in detention. He is currently believed to be held in the central city of Isfahan.
“Issuing the death penalty for expressing opinions and creating artistic works is a sign of the desperation of the Islamic Republic regime and its fear of popular protests,” said IHR director Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam.
Ten UN experts, who are independent of the United Nations, said they were “alarmed by the death sentence and the alleged ill-treatment of Mr Salehi”.
“Art must be allowed to criticise, to provoke, to push the boundaries in any society,” they said in a statement.
