An Iranian court sentenced singer Amir Hossein Maghsoudloo, known as Tataloo, to death this Monday for blasphemy against the prophet of Islam Muhammad. The resolution comes after an appeal by the prosecutor to a previous sentence of five years in prison, according to The Hollywood Reporter, which quotes local media.
The 37-year-old singer, one of the most prominent Iranian rappers of the last decade, has been detained in Tehran since December 2023, after being extradited from Turkey, where he was detained in 2020. The authorities of his native country accuse him of various crimes, including promoting “prostitution,” spreading “propaganda” against the Islamic republic, and other broadly defined charges of “obscene content.”
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Tataloo, known for combining rap, pop and R&B, was favored by conservative politicians in his country as a way to reach out to young, liberal-minded Iranians — the singer had four million followers on Instagram. Furthermore, in 2015, Tataloo published a song in support of Iran’s nuclear program, and in the 2017 presidential campaign he supported Ebrahim Raisi, the most conservative candidate, appearing in a photo with him. The following year, in 2018, he left Iran and began openly criticizing its government. This Monday’s verdict, according to the aforementioned media, is not final and can be appealed by the singer.
The Islamic Republic executes more people per year than any other nation—except China, where there is no reliable data. Last year alone, according to United Nations figures, Iran murdered more than 900 people with the death penalty, which punishes “serious crimes,” including murder, drug trafficking, rape and sexual assault. In addition, since 1979, the country’s legislation requires artists to go through government control to publish their works.