A petition has been launched asking people to demand that the execution of four gay men in Iran be called off after an Iranian court sentenced them to death. The four men from the town of Choram, in the Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad Province, face death by hanging for sodomy.
The four men — identified as “Saadat Arefi,” “Vahid Akbari,” “Javid Akbari,” and “Houshmand Akbari” — were due to be executed shortly after their verdict was approved recently by high court judges, according to a report from the Human Rights Activist News Agency (HRANA) in Iran.
According to HRANA and JOOPEA, the men will be hanged for sodomy in accordance with Sharia law.
According to Iranian human rights campaigners, over 4,000 gay men and lesbians have
been executed since the Ayatollahs seized power in 1979.
A gay activist based in Iran said, “Although being gay is not a crime based on Iranian criminal law but this is the most clear statement against same sex-acts in past months.”
According to Schools OUT and LGBT History Month co-chair Sue Sanders the news is grimly ironic as it coincides with the most successful International Day against Homophobia ever. “It’s as though they are seeking to snub and to taunt everyone and anyone who seeks reform” she said.
To sign the petition demanding the executions be stopped click here
IDAHO has been a great success with UK Director Derek Lennard proclaiming there have been more activities in more nations than ever before. Yesterday saw Schools OUT, The Gay and Lesbian Association, Stonewall, the National Secular Society and OFSTED representatives on a panel discussing how to use education to combat homophobia and transphobia to a packed auditorium at London’s Conway Hall.