Iran’s Supreme Court has accepted the death sentence appeal for Iranian Kurdish rapper Saman Seydi Yasin, which was issued in connection with ongoing widespread anti-government protests, the country’s judiciary said Saturday as reported by Reuters.
Yasin, who has taken on social justice issues such as inequality and oppression in his music, was accused of “enmity against God,” attempting to kill security forces, firing a gun into the air and setting a trash bin on fire. Yasin denied the charges.
His mother last week pleaded in a video for help to save her son. “Where in the world have you seen a loved one’s life is taken for a trash bin?” she said in the video posted on social media.
The judiciary’s Mizan news agency said Yasin would now face a retrial.
At least two men have been executed in connection with the protests, and according to rights group Amnesty International, Iran is seeking to execute at least 26 protesters. The watchdog described the process as “sham trials designed to intimidate those participating in the popular uprising that has rocked Iran.”
Human rights groups estimate that more than 18,000 people have been arrested during the protests.
Civil unrest and protests against the Iranian government began in mid-September over the death in police custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini who had been arrested by Iran’s morality police for “improperly” wearing her hijab.