Iran condemns two women to death for 'corruption' over LGBTQ+ media links
Source: The Guardian
Iran condemns two women to death for corruption over LGBTQ+ media links
Outcry over show trial, which follows Zahra Seddiqi Hamedani talking to BBC about abuse of gay people in Irans Kurdish region
Weronika Strzyżyńska
Thu 8 Sep 2022 07.00 BST
Two women have been condemned to death in Iran because of their links to the LGBTQ+ community on social media, human rights groups have reported.
Zahra Seddiqi Hamedani, 31, and Elham Choubdar, 24, were found guilty of a number of charges by a court in Urmia, in the Iranian province of West Azerbaijan, on 1 September but the details of their sentences only emerged this week.
According to Hangaw, a Kurdish human rights group, Seddiqi Hamedani and Choubdar were found guilty of corruption on Earth for promoting homosexuality, promoting Christianity and communicating with the media opposing the Islamic Republic. They were also found guilty of sex trafficking, a charge that human right activists say is fabricated.
Homosexuality is illegal in Iran and punishable by death under the sharia penal code.
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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2022/sep/08/iran-condemns-two-women-to-death-for-corruption-over-lgbtq-media-links