The Islamic Republic of Iran has executed two men on Sunday on charges of indulging in homosexuality, a report published in Jerusalem Post said.
The victims, identified as Mehrdad Karimpou and Farid Mohammadi, were executed in the Maragheh prison in northwestern Iran, the report said while quoting information from Human Rights Network in Iran. The duo were languishing in jail for the last six years.
The Human Rights Network in Iran said that the execution of two men was kept under wraps, with the Iranian state-controlled media not reporting it in order to evade international criticism.
“The two Iranian men were executed today after being found guilty of charges related to homosexuality,” Iran Human Rights Monitor tweeted.
Though news about the execution was not released in the media, Iranian-American journalist Karmel Melamed tweeted about their killing and raised questions over the lack of outrage from the United States and other LGBT groups that champion the rights of gays and lesbians.
“The Ayatollah regime in Iran just executed two gay men for the crime of sodomy in Iran,” The Iranian-American journalist Karmel Melamed tweeted. He added their pictures and asked, “Where’s the outrage from US Secretary of State Antony Bliken, GLAAD [an NGO that promotes LGBTQ acceptance] & other LGBT groups in the US to this horrific crime?!”
The Ayatollah regime in Iran just executed two gay men for the crime of sodomy in Iran. This is Mehrdad Karimpour and Farid Mohammadi who were executed by hanging. Where's the outrage from @StateDept @SecBlinken @glaad & other LGBT groups in U.S. to this horrific crime?! #No2IR pic.twitter.com/vDXypBvO4g
— Karmel Melamed (@KarmelMelamed) January 30, 2022
Peter Tatchell, an LGBTQ+ and human-rights campaigner, told the Jerusalem Post that the execution of two men on anti-gay charges was in accordance with the punishment meted to homosexuals in a dozen of Muslim-majority countries and regions that swear their allegiance to Sharia law and impose death penalty for homosexuality. “The execution of these men follows a long-standing regime policy of the state-sanctioned murder of gay men, often on disputed charges after unfair trials that have been condemned by many Human Rights organisations,” Tatchell was quoted as saying.
Iran, an Islamic country that abides by Sharia Law, routinely uses the charge of sodomy to impose the death penalty on gays and lesbians. Homosexuality is strictly forbidden in Islam and attracts capital punishment. As per a survey conducted by British Wikipedia dispatch in 2008, Iran’s Islamic regime executed as many as 6,000 gays and lesbians since the Islamic revolution swept Iran in 1979.
