Two Iranian lesbian activists have been sentenced to death for “promoting homosexuality”, rights group LBTQIA+ 6Rang reported on Monday. According to Shadi Amin, coordinator of the organization, this is the first time that women have been sentenced to death in Iran because of their sexual orientation.
Zahra Sedighi Hamedani, 31, and Elham Chubdar, 24, were convicted by a court in the northwestern city of UrmÃa. The young women were also accused of promoting the Christian religion and having contacted a media outlet that opposes the Iranian government. They are being held in UrmÃa prison.
Another woman faces the same charges and is also in detention. It’s Soheila Ashrafi, 52, from UrmÃa. The sentence in her case has not yet been handed down.
6Rang’s Amin says the NGO 6Rang has called on Germany and other foreign governments to put pressure on Iran for the activists’ release.
Iranian officials confirmed that Hamedani and Chubdar were convicted of “spreading corruption on Earth”—the sentence is commonly given to defendants deemed to be violators of sharia law. It is the most serious charge in the Iranian penal code.
The fate of Hamedani – known as Sareh – has been feared since 2021, when she was captured by Iranian security forces while trying to flee to Turkey.
Human rights defenders accuse Iran of promoting a campaign of repression against broad sectors of society. They denounce, among others, the arrests of members of the Bahá’à religious minority, the increase in executions and the imprisonment of foreign nationals.
