22 Year Old Gay Iranian Escapes Death After State Flogging

Pink News:

20-Sep-2005

Benjamin Cohen, PinkNews.co.uk Editor

A 22 year old Iranian, known only as Amir has escaped his home country after being subjected to 100 lashes which left his back covered in huge bloody welts. The state’s religious police identified him as being gay following an undercover investigation. Officers posed as gay men on an internet chatroom and lured Amir to meet one of them for a date. They promptly arrested him and he was summarily convicted of homosexuality and sentenced to 100 lashes, which were carried out privately in prison.

On release, Amir was placed under surveillance and he alleges was threatened with death by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.

Brett Lock, a spokesperson for OutRage! said, “This is a further example of the violent homophobia of the Iran’s Islamic fundamentalist regime.

“OutRage! is appalled that large sections of liberal and left opinion in the West shows little concern regarding the murderous brutality of the clerical fascist regime in Tehran.

“We deplore the gullibility of many gay, left and human rights groups concerning the abuse of LGBT human rights in Iran.“Too many are willing to believe the smears and slurs of the Iranian government and state-approved newspapers like Qods.

“When two young men were executed for same-sex acts in the Iranian city of Mashad in July, some left and human rights organisations accepted at face value claims by the state-controlled media that the youths were hanged for rape.“Similar gullibility has been shown by some left-wingers. They have long swallowed Iran's homophobic propaganda.”

PinkNews.co.uk was informed of the story through OutRage! the gay rights group led by human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell. We feel that the images of the flogging are disturbing not fit for publication, however, readers can see them if they wish on Outrage.org.ukIran, led by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (pictured), has executed an estimated 3000 gay men since the Islamic Revolution of 1979.