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Iran sentences pop singer Amir Hossein to death

Iran sentences pop singer Amir Hossein to death

The singer was also sentenced to ten years in prison for disseminating "propaganda".
20 Jan, 2025

An Iranian court has sentenced popular singer Amir Hossein Maghsoudloo, known as Tataloo, to death on appeal after he was convicted of blasphemy, local media reported on Sunday.

“The Supreme Court accepted the prosecutor’s objection” to a previous five-year jail term on offences including blasphemy, reformist newspaper Etemad reported online.

The report added that the verdict was 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 been in detention in Iran since then.

Tataloo had also been sentenced to 10 years for promoting “prostitution” and in other cases was charged with disseminating “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 of reaching out to 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 published a song in support of Iran’s nuclear programme that later unravelled in 2018 during the first US presidency of Donald Trump.

Originally published in Dawn, January 20th, 2025

Comments

Tahmad Jan 20, 2025 11:22am
Iran should not act like Afghan Taliban government, let’s make Iran as moderate country or just like Egypt or Malaysia.
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Dr. Salaria, Aamir Ahmad Jan 20, 2025 12:38pm
Please show mercy, empathy, benevolence, tolerance, kindness and compassion.
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RASHID ALI MIR Jan 20, 2025 12:44pm
Suported
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Syed Mudassir Hussain Jan 20, 2025 02:22pm
This is Iran's internal matter.
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M. Saeed Jan 20, 2025 06:51pm
Singers always sing for joyous amusement and generally have best public appeals. Executing them is killing of enjoyment.
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Ehsan Jan 20, 2025 07:14pm
They can never attain their lost gory with this insecure conservative mindset
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Laila Jan 21, 2025 09:40pm
When it comes to misusing blasphemy laws and censoring artists, people, we have much in common with Iran. That's why some Iranian artists are in exile. Like us Iranian regime is also obsessed with throwing around accusations like "foreign agenda, propaganda, immorality and damaging the image of the country" Hopefully Iranians now know that they have no friend or safe haven in Turkey.
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