During the Christopher Street Day (CSD) pride march in Berlin, Germany, on June 19, 2010, women demonstrate against Iran’s treatment of LGBTQ citizens.
Paris — A court in Iran has sentenced two gay rights activists to death on allegations of encouraging homosexuality, campaigners reported Monday, urging the international community to exert pressure to prevent the execution of the sentences.
The two women, 31-year-old Zahra Sedighi Hamedani and 24-year-old Elham Chubdar, were sentenced to death by a court in the town of Urmia in Iran’s northwest, according to the Hengaw Kurdish rights organization.
They were found guilty of “promoting corruption on earth,” a charge routinely used against those judged to have violated the country’s sharia regulations, the report added. They were told of the sentence while being held in the Urmia jail’s women’s section.
In a brief statement, the Iranian judiciary confirmed the issuance of the penalties.
The fate of prominent Iranian LGBTI activist Sedighi Hamedani, popularly known as Sareh, has been a source of concern for months.
She was apprehended by Iranian security authorities in October as she attempted to flee into neighboring Turkey after returning to Iran from Iraqi Kurdistan, where she was located.
Consequently, Sedighi Hamedani was confined in solitary confinement for nearly two months.
Shadi Amin, a coordinator for the Iranian LGBTI rights group 6Rang headquartered in Germany, also verified the execution judgments, which she claimed the organisation had been aware of since Thursday but could now reveal with the families’ agreement.
She told AFP, “We now seek pressure from Germany and other international governments” on Iran to release the two ladies.
She continued, “This is the first time a woman has been sentenced to death in Iran for her sexual orientation.”
Amnesty International stated in January that the charges came from her defense of gay rights on social media platforms and her participation in a BBC documentary shown in May 2021 about the mistreatment of LGBTQ individuals in the Kurdistan Region of northern Iraq (KRG).
After being imprisoned by regional officials, she chose to escape Iraqi Kurdistan. It appears she re-entered Iran before attempting to enter Turkey.
In this file photo from August 5, 2005, demonstrators in Manila, Philippines, light candles to protest the death of two youths in Iran for their homosexuality. JAY DIRECTO/AFP/Getty
Regularly, activists criticize Iran’s treatment of LGBTQ folks. Homosexuality is banned in Iran with its penal code explicitly criminalizing same-sex sexual behavior for both men and women.
Before leaving Iraqi Kurdistan, Sedighi Hamedani transmitted 6Rang films to be released in the event that she did not reach safety.
“We, the LGBTI community, are enduring hardships. Whether by death or by freedom, we shall maintain our integrity “In one of the tapes, she remarked.
“I wish to obtain freedom,” she continued, adding that she had been subjected to torture techniques such as electrocution while in Iraqi Kurdish detention.
Activists accuse Iran of being in the midst of a massive crackdown affecting all aspects of society, including a new push against the Bahai religious minority, an increase in executions, and the arrest of foreign nationals.