Saumya Agrawal
Tehran: The Iranian ‘Zombie Angelina Jolie’ Sahar Tabar has been jailed for 10 years, her lawyer said. She was arrested last year over her social media activities.
Sahar Tabar, whose real name is Fatemeh Khishvand, from Tehran, gained fame on social media after she posted images of herself looking like Angelina Jolie’s zombie version.
While many saw Tabar’s stunt as a joke, she was arrested on October 5, 2019, in Iran, along with three other female Instagram influencers.
Iranian journalist Masih Alinejad told Daily Mail that she spoke to Tabar’s lawyer who confirmed that the influencer has been sentenced to 10 years in prison on the past few days for “promoting public corruption.”
Alinejad shared the news on Twitter and wrote, “10 years jail for Iranian Instagramer who used makeup & Photoshop to become a zombie Angelina Jolie. Sahar Tabar is only 19. Her joke landed her in jail. Her mother cries every day to get her innocent daughter freed.”
She also called on Hollywood actor Angelina Jolie to help Tabar get released from the prison, saying, “Islamic Republic has a history of tormenting women. We need to be united against this gender apartheid.”
According to Tasnim news agency, the charges against Tabar included blasphemy, inciting violence, gaining income through inappropriate means and encouraging youths to corruption.
Tabar rose to fame in 2017 after she reportedly underwent 50 surgeries to make her look like the Hollywood actor. She later said that her look was mostly achieved through make-up and editing.
She revealed her former appearance for the first time in July 2019.
She admitted she had some surgery such as nose job, lip fillers and liposuction, however, insisted that most of her bizarre appearance was because of make-up and editing.
“This is Photoshop and makeup. Every time I publish a photo, I paint my face in an increasingly funny way. It is a way of expressing yourself, a kind of art. My fans know that this is not my real face,” Tabar had said.
“I did not even think about being like Jolie. Also, I did not want to resemble the cartoon character the Corpse Bride,” she had added.
In April this year, it was reported that Tabar had contracted coronavirus.
