Wednesday, October 14, 2009


Iran Hanged A Straight Man
Last Week For Gay Sodomy


(Mahmoud Asgari and Ayaz Marhoni, gay teens, moments before they were hanged in Mashad, Iran, on July 19, 2005.)

This tragic news comes from the Iranian Queer Railroad organization. Please repost their message and get the word out that another man has been executed by the despots running Iran for homosexual acts. The hanged man was heterosexual, forced to prostitute himself with other man, but married to a woman, who is facing death herself.

From IRQR today:
On October 6, 2009, Rahim Mohammadi was executed in Tabriz, a city in northwest Iran, after being convicted of sexual abuse and rape during sexual relations between males (a homosexual act called Lavat).

According to Rahim’s lawyer (here), Mr. Mohammad Mostafayi, there was not enough evidence presented to the court to prove such accusations; the court nevertheless decided that once a person is convicted of Lavat, he must be executed. Mostafayi, who had not been informed of the court’s decision once it was handed down - and was only contacted after his client Rahim had been executed - wrote a letter of further explanation to the authorities.

"Rahim Mohammadi was first arrested for blackmail in June 2008; over the years, due to financial problems, he had used his wife to seduce men, inviting them to their house in order for them to have sex with her. He would record the encounters on tape and use these tapes to blackmail them. There was no witness or evidence to prove that Rahim had committed a homosexual act; a complainant who had claimed that he’d been raped by Rahim withdrew the charges," says Mostafayi.

In Iran, in the case of an accusation of Lavat (based on the Islamic punishment code stated here), even if there are no witnesses or evidence, the judge can decide at his own discretion to condemn the accused.

Many European countries are continuing to refuse queer asylum seekers’ applications, stating that there are no life-threatening risks involved in their cases. These governments still believe that even though such laws exist in Iran, these laws are not being put into practice; however, as we can see in Rahim’s case, the judiciary does not hesitate to execute an accused person of Lavat, let alone a queer person.

Iranian Railroad for Queer refugees (IRQR) requests all international organizations and governments to support Iranian Queer asylum seekers by granting them refugee status, since it is evident that they face death in Iran.
A quick search turned up this report from more than a week ago, about the hanging of Rahim, and the stoning sentence of his wife, Kobra Babai:
October 5, 2009: a man was hanged for adultery and homosexuality, human rights lawyer Mohammad Mostafaei reported. Mostafaei wrote in an open letter that his client Rahim Mohammadi was hanged in the prison of Tabriz (northest of Iran).

Neither he nor Mr. Mohammadi’s family had been informed prior to the execution. Mr. Mohammadi’s wife, Kobra Babai, was sentenced to death by stoning for adultery and could be stoned to death in the near future.

The lawyer explained that Rahim Mohammadi and Kobra Babai, married for approximately 16 years and with a 11 year old daughter, were living in conditions of extreme poverty and they were forced to rely on economic assistance from state organisations. Some employees of these organisations allegedly offered further money to the man to have sexual relations with Kobra, and he accepted. The woman was therefore made to prostitute with about forty men, according to public statements by lawyer Mostafai. She was condemned to stoning for this. [...]

Rahim Mohammadi was flogged severely a few days before his execution and was hanged while his body was crushed because of the lashes he had received.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

It never ceases to amaze me that the gay lobby screams "oppression" when California won't recognize gay marriage (even though all the legal benefits of marriage are available to gay couples...just not the legal term marriage) but we hear nothing but silence when actual oppression is going on....

Anonymous said...

What does one have to do to get the American Left and the state-run media to give this the condemnation it deserves?

Anonymous said...

Re: What does one have to do to get the American Left and the state-run media to give this the condemnation it deserves?

Just changing the name "IRAN" with "ISRAEL"...

Anonymous said...

Wouldn't it be nice if someone rented a billboard in LA and put this picture up with a statement saying something like "stop the execution of gays in Iran and else where".

Anonymous said...

While I do not doubt the regime's violence against gays, I wonder if this is more a case of silencing some folks who were pushing back against the regime's exploiters.
Was this: Poor couple forced to trade sex for sustenance, they try to gain leverage, the connected folks who work for the regime use the law to kill them?
It's is hard to know based on the two very different accounts of what happened. (three versions, if you give any credence to the court's version.)
Of course the workers for the state agency who exploited the couple will not be stoned.

Robert said...

Please educate yourself before you say "even though all the legal benefits of marriage are available to gay couple". Unless you are married many rights are not available such as: Covering areas such as inheritance, pensions and child custody. Victims' rights, including the right to receive notifications and benefits allowances
Business succession rights.
Legal process rights, such as the ability to sign certain documents, the requirement to join in certain petitions, rights to cause of action, and ability to transfer licenses without charge. (Yes I can will my homestead to anyone, but if it is willed to your legal spouse there is no tax. Otherwise a 50% gift tax is due, not everyone can pay this)
The right to use sick leave to care for a spouse.
The right to wages and benefits when a spouse is injured, and to unpaid wages upon death of spouse. (Such as if my partner dies and he has payroll due. The spouse would get this money.)
The right to unemployment and disability insurance benefits
Workers' compensation coverage.
Insurance rights, including rights under group policies, policy rights after death of spouse, conversion rights, and continuing coverage rights. I could go on but just please educate yourself. I cant be bothered about getting "married" I just want equal rights for me and the person I love.

Anonymous said...

You better believe that Obama also believes Iran is rightous and proper in their policies. Just a matter of time until he proves it.

Unknown said...

It goes without saying that this execution, and others like it, is evil and barbaric and that it should be condemned. But only mindless partisan hacks would suggest that "the left" is silent about these actions because it agrees with them or because "the left" supports Iran. The American media says nothing about these crimes against humanity for the same reasons it says little about honor killings in Pakistan or slavery in Africa -- because of a fundamental lack of interest in what is going on in the rest of the world. Which isn't to say we shouldn't press for more coverage of these crimes, and that we shouldn't pressure western governments to do whatever they can to help these men and women. But turning this into some kind of left/right dispute is not helpful.

(And it's completely moronic to suggest that President Obama supports the execution of gay men (or men accused of being gay.))