Iran hands down jail terms to pop singer Tataloo: media

TEHRAN: An Iranian court has sentenced popular singer and rap artist Amir Hossein Maghsoudloo, known as Tataloo, to prison for disseminating “obscene content”, state media reported Sunday.

The underground musician, 36, had been living in Istanbul since 2018 before Turkish police handed him over to Iran in December of last year. He has been in detention in Iran since then. His lawyer Elham Rahimifar said Tataloo was handed multiple “short and long” jail terms, without elaborating.

The sentences can be appealed, Rahimifar told state-run newspaper Jam-e Jam.

Later, the Iranian judiciary’s Mizan Online website said Tataloo was given a three-year sentence for “blasphemy”.

Mizan said he was facing other charges, without elaborating.

Under Iraniaan law, jail sentences run concurrently.

The trial against Tataloo began in March on charges of promoting “prostitution” and disseminating “propaganda” against the Islamic Republic of Iran and other “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.

He even held an awkward televised meeting in 2017 with ultra-conservative Ebrahim Raisi who is now Iran’s president.

In 2015, Tataloo published a song in support of Iran’s nuclear programme as a landmark nuclear deal between Tehran and the world powers was unravelling.