IranWire reports that Iranian Instagram blogger Milad Hatemi is facing the death penalty. In March last year, he got extradited from Turkey to Iran upon Interpol’s request.
Being an Iranian citizen, Hatemi earned money by advertising gambling platforms to Iranians while residing abroad. He was charged with “corruption on earth through widespread abuse and disruption of the country’s monetary and currency system, amounting at a minimum to more than half a million [US] dollars ($550,290), laundering the same amount, opening a gambling platform, and encouraging corruption” in Iran which involves a death sentence.
Over the past few years, he has been among other nine Persian Instagram celebrities accused by the Islamic Republic of running “illegal” betting platforms.
The former Instagram influencer with more than four million followers resided in Turkey with his wife and kid, posting photos and videos of their lavish lifestyle.
Earlier, Milad Hatemi repeatedly became the headline of the Turkish press.
Once, he was selling watermelons at five Turkish lira per kilogram in Istanbul’s Beyoglu district from the trunk of an expensive Lamborghini supercar.
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Another time, he was driving a police car around Istanbul during curfew. For this, he got arrested and faced multiple charges. SNSs users demanded his deportation.
Eventually, the Istanbul court ordered the blogger’s deportation to Iran.