Tehran's First Criminal Court has sentenced the popular singer Amir Hossein Maghsoudloo, known as Tataloo, to death on appeal after he was convicted of "blasphemy" for "insulting Prophet Muhammad," according to Iran International [9] news site. The case was reopened after the prosecutor rejected the original sentence of five years imprisonment. The 37-year-old musician is famous, particularly among young audiences, for openly expressing political statements in his music. Tataloo's supporters argue that the government's attempts to suppress his influence with several legal actions stem from his outspoken criticism of Iran's conservative regime.
Tataloo was once favored by the political establishment to appeal to youth when he released a song in 2015 supporting Iran's nuclear program. However, when his lyrics and lifestyle started to go against Iran's conservative values, his artistic expression was restricted, his supporters charge. According to Iran News Update [10], the Ministry of Guidance has tightened control over artistic expression in recent years to restrict creative freedoms, with artists frequently facing imprisonment, censorship, or exile.
Tataloo had been living in Istanbul since 2018, until Turkish authorities extradited him to Iran in December 2023. Since then, he has been in detention, facing 10-year sentences for several charges including disseminating "propaganda" against the Islamic Republic, promoting prostitution, and publishing "obscene content." According to Amnesty International [11], Iran's courts are controlled by the country's security and intelligence bodies and lack independence.
The UN Human Rights experts in 2022 underscored [12] the need "to take meaningful steps to ensure the right to freedom of religion or belief and freedom of opinion and expression without discrimination." Despite the UN's calls to decriminalize [13] blasphemy due to claims it is used as a form of "systematic persecution" of religious minorities, Yousef Mehrdad [14] and Sadrollah Fazeli Zare [15] were executed [16] in 2023 for crimes including blasphemy and "insulting Islamic sanctities" under Article 513 of the Islamic Penal Code (IPC) [17] and "insulting the Prophet" under Article 262 IPC [17].
According [18] to the UN, Iran executed at least 853 people in 2023, and 901 people in 2024.
Diana Eltahawy, deputy regional director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International, claims [11] that "the authorities have weaponized the death penalty in an orchestrated bid to sow fear among the public and suppress dissent."
From JURIST [19], Jan. 20. Used with permission.
