Iranian state media on Wednesday has published a short video of Toomaj Salehi, one of Iran's most popular rappers in prison, which shows him in pain and under torture.
Salehi has been arrested by the Iranian regime, days after he made an interview with CBC News.
As one of Iran's most popular rappers and with hundreds of thousands of followers on Twitter and equally high YouTube views, Salehi has used his lyrics to openly criticize the regime.
Protests erupted in September, following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who was arrested by morality police in Tehran,for allegedly violating Iran's strict rules on women’s outfits.
Iranian authorities, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, have blamed the US and Israel for the unrest as a plot to destabilize the country, without providing evidence.
Thousands have been arrested and hundreds were killed during the nationwide protests.
