Saman Yasin, a Kurdish rapper from Iran sentenced to death for supporting nationwide protests in 2022, has safely arrived in Germany after being released from prison, a non-governmental organization announced on Friday.

Yasin, hailing from Kermanshah province in western Iran, gained prominence for his songs criticizing Iran's socioeconomic conditions. He was arrested in October 2022 during the Jin, Jiyan, Azadi (Women, Life, Freedom) protests sparked by the death of Kurdish woman Zhina (Mahsa) Amini in police custody. Yasin was detained in Tehran’s notorious Evin prison and charged with moharebeh (enmity against God), which carries the death penalty, as well as “assembly and collusion to act against national security.”

His death sentence, overturned in October 2023, had drawn widespread international condemnation.

Duzen Tekkal, a German-Yazidi journalist and founder of the NGO Hawar Help, announced on social media platform X that Yasin had successfully fled Iran and reached Germany. Tekkal detailed the harrowing conditions Yasin endured while imprisoned, including torture, mock executions, and forced hospitalizations. She also revealed that he was injected with an unidentified substance that left him unconscious for 24 hours during one of his hospital stays.

“While in captivity, Saman was subjected to unimaginable suffering. His resilience in the face of these atrocities is remarkable,” Tekkal wrote.

Amnesty International has documented Iran's disproportionate use of the death penalty against ethnic minorities, including Kurds and Baluchis, many of whom were prominent in the 2022 protests.

Yasin’s case is emblematic of the crackdown on dissent in Iran, particularly against artists and activists. His arrival in Germany marks a moment of relief for his supporters, though it also underscores the ongoing challenges faced by those opposing repression in Iran.