Iran has
sentenced two women LGBTQ+ rights activists to death over what authorities say
are charges related to human trafficking.
The country’s
official IRNA news agency reported the news Monday. Since the news broke, many
online have condemned the decision.
Iranian
authorities say the women, Zahra Sedighi Hamedani, 31, and Elham Chobdar, 24,
have been accused of “corruption on earth,” according to media reports.
The charge
usually is used for those who have gone against Iran’s government, according to
the Associated Press. Authorities said the two had “misused”
young women and girls and referenced human trafficking.
The AP reports
that the two women have been identified, however, as LGBTQ+ activists.
A court in
Uremia, Iran — about 370 miles from Tehran — gave the judgment. The two are
still able to appeal.
Sedighi
Hamedani, who also goes by Sareh and also is gender non-conforming, was
arrested in October by Iranian authorities after she attempted to flee to
Turkey. She had returned to Iran after having been based in Iraqi
Kurdistan, Le Monde reports. She had decided to seek
international protection after being detained by regional authorities there.
The
coordinator at the Germany-based Iranian LGBTQ+ group 6Rang, Shadi Amin, told
the Agence France Press, “We now demand pressure from Germany and other foreign
governments” be put on Iran to free these women.
She continued:
“This is the first time that a woman has been sentenced to death in Iran for
her sexual orientation.”
In a video
sent to 6Rang by Sedighi Hamedani before her arrest, she said, "We, the
LGBTQ+ community, are suffering. Whether through death or freedom, we will
remain true to ourselves.”
A
Norwegian-based human rights group, Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, said
security forces detained Chobdar also due to “promoting homosexuality,” the AP
reports.
Activists have
said Iran has cracked down on LGBTQ+ Iranians in recent years. Homosexuality is
banned and criminalized in the country for both men and women.
Iran reportedly executed two gay men earlier this year
over charges of sodomy.
SOURCE: ADVOCATE
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