An Iranian court has sentenced popular singer Amir Hossein Maghsoudloo, known as Tataloo, to death on appeal after he was found guilty of blasphemy, according to local media.
“The Supreme Court accepted the prosecutor’s objection” to a five-year prison sentence for offenses such as blasphemy, the reformist Etemad newspaper reported on Sunday.
“The case was reopened, and this time the accused was sentenced to death for insulting the prophet,” in reference to the Prophet Muhammad.
The report adds that the verdict is not final and can still be appealed.
The 37-year-old underground musician had been living in Istanbul since 2018 before Turkish police handed him over to Iran in December 2023.
He has since been detained in Iran.
Tataloo was also sentenced to 10 years in prison for promoting “prostitution” and, in other cases, was accused of spreading “propaganda” against the Islamic Republic and publishing “obscene content.”
The heavily tattooed singer, known for combining rap, pop and R&B, was previously courted by conservative politicians as a way to reach young, liberal-minded Iranians.
Tataloo even held an awkward televised meeting in 2017 with ultra-conservative Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, who later died in a helicopter crash.
In 2015, Tataloo released a song in support of Iran’s nuclear program which later came to light in 2018, during the first US presidency of Donald Trump.
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