Sam Mahmoudi well as writing the song “I Confess…” and possessing a copy of Salman Rushdie’s The Satanic Verses. Mahmoudi has told his interrogators he acquired the controversial novel because he planned to publish a special article on the anniversary of the death sentence issued by Ayatollah Khomeini against Rushdie. Mahmoudi was arrested for more than a month during the protests that followed the disputed re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and was released on a $300,000 Dollars. Sam Mahmoudi Sam Mahmoudi Sarabi is the editor for the Idea & history and book services of Shargh Newspaper who has been summoned to the Intelligence
Salman Rushdie controversy, provoking protests from Muslims in several countries. Death threats were made against him, including a "fatwā" calling for his assassination issued by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the Supreme Leader of Iran, on 14 February 1989. The British government put Rushdie under police protection. In 1983 Rushdie was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, the UK's senior literary organisation. He was appointed Commandeur de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres of France in January 1999. In June 2007, Queen Elizabeth II knighted him for his services to literature. In 2008, "The Times" ranked him thirteenth on its list