Tehran, Iran:
An Iranian court has handed down the death sentence on appeal to popular singer Amir Hossein Magsdrou (also known as Tataroo), who was convicted of blasphemy, local media reported on Sunday.
The reformist newspaper Etemad reported online that the Supreme Court “accepted the prosecution’s objection” to the five-year prison sentence for blasphemy and other crimes.
“The case has been reopened and the defendant has been sentenced to death for insulting the Prophet,” he said, referring to Islam’s prophet Muhammad.
The report added that the judgment was not final and could be further appealed.
The 37-year-old underground musician had lived in Istanbul since 2018 until Turkish police extradited him to Iran in December 2023.
He has been detained in Iran ever since.
Tatarou was also sentenced to 10 years in prison for promoting “prostitution” and was charged in other cases with spreading “propaganda” against the Islamic Republic and publishing “obscene content”. There is.
The heavily tattooed singer, known for blending rap, pop and R&B, was previously courted by conservative politicians as a way to reach young, liberal-minded Iranians.
In 2017, Tatarou even had an awkward video conversation with Ebrahim Raisi, the ultra-conservative Iranian president who later died in a helicopter crash.
Tataru released a song in 2015 supporting Iran’s nuclear program, which was later uncovered in 2018 during President Donald Trump’s era.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
