LGBT+ activists sentenced to death in Iran must be freed- Save Zahra Hamedani and Elham Choubdar!

8 September 2022

The Islamic Republic of Iran has sentenced two LGBT+ women activists to death for “promoting homosexuality”.

Zahra Seddighi Hamedani, 31, also known as “Sareh”, and Elham Choubdar, 24, were sentenced to death by a court in the north-western city of Urmia.

The sentences come amidst a wave of stepped-up repression by the Raisi government in the past few months, which has included unleashing its “hijab and chastity” patrols on women over the enforcement of compulsory hijab, a rise in the number of executions and the application of barbaric Islamic punishments such as amputation of limbs and blinding. In one day alone, on Tuesday this week, the regime put to death 10 prisoners in the cities of Karaj and Minab.

The sentencesagainst Zahra and Elham also come followingEbrahim Raisi’s vicious tirade against the LGBT+ community in a speech last week.

Same-sex relations are a crime under the Islamic Republic, punishable by death. In January two gay men by the names of Mehrdad Karimpour and Farid Mohammadi were executed in the north-western city of Maragheh.

We condemn the barbaric sentences against Zahra Seddighi Hamedani and Elham Choubdar. We call for the immediate revoking of these sentences andfor the release of these two women activists.

The Islamic regime of Iran must not be allowed to get away with its crimes with impunity.We call on all rights activists and everyone sickened by these barbaric sentences to join the worldwide protests to secure the release of Zahra and Elham.

We support the call by the International Committee Against Executions (ICAE) for a protest gathering on Saturday in Cologne, Germany, for the release of Zahra and Elham. These protests must be replicated everywhere.*

The regime in Iran must be held to account for its gross violation of human rights and its crimes against humanity. Our campaign calls for a global political boycott of the regime in Iran, its expulsion from the international community and the prosecution of its officials for mass murder and crimes against humanity.

Boycott Iran Regime
Campaign to Boycott the Islamic Regime of Iran

Website:
https://boycottislamicregimeofiran.com

Contact:
info@boycottislamicregimeofiran.com

• Protest in Cologne, Germany, this Saturday 10 September 2022, 4pm-6pm, Domplatte, Blau-Gold-Haus. For further info, contact: Taha Azadi 0049 1729732364