Petrelis Files

Iran Spares Two Teens From Execution in Same-Sex Abuse Case

(Photo credit: SaveDeLara.com. Photo is that of 15 year old Nosrat, whose case set the precedent for this latest one. Nosrat is mentioned in the article, but he has not been involved in any same-sex activity.)

In the past year or so I've made the acquaintance of Lily Mazahery, an Iranian-American attorney, through our mutual interest of stopping executions in the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Mazahery devotes much of her time helping women on Iran's death row, and she is equally concerned about that country's capital punishment meted out against homosexuals and teenagers.

Today Mazahery sends word that a Tehran court has commuted the death sentences of two Iranian teenagers, which she sees as a giant positive step forward in bringing civilized standards of human rights to Iran.

She doesn't say the words gay or homosexual, but the allegations of same-gender sexual abuse are integral to the case, and even without clear reported evidence of gay-specific charges, this story of interest to me as a queer rights activist because the death penalty is a gay matter and any reduction in the number of people sentenced to die in Iran is well-worth noting.

Here's the full report from Mazahery:

As legal experts continue the debate about the recent orders of two Tehran province judges, holding that the death sentence of a 15 year old boy, Nosrat, should be commuted because he had not reached the requisite mental maturity, in a separate ruling, the judges of Branch 74 of Tehran province’s general criminal court, used the same reasoning to commute the death sentences of 2 other teenagers today. Instead, the teenagers were sentenced to 10 years imprisonment each.

Last year, a 12 year old, along with his father, reported to the police station in the city of Ray to file a complaint against two teenage boys, named Ahad and Milad, whom the 12 year old accused of sexual abuse.

In describing the alleged incident, the 12 year old stated: “It was morning and I had just finished an exam and I was returning home from school when I saw Ahad and Milad in the street. They told me that they had a squirrel on the rooftop of their house. Because I love animals, I asked them to let me see the squirrel. We started walking together and entered a garden. They led me into a room and then we all went to the rooftop. When we got to the rooftop, there was no squirrel. Instead, Ahad and Milad abused me and then let me go.”

Based on the young teenager’s complaint, the police arrested Ahad and Milad on charges of rape and sexual abuse. Five judges of Branch 74 of Tehran province’s appellate court became directly responsible for investigating these allegations. In the first investigative meeting, Ahad and Milad admitted that they had sexually abused the 12 year old.

When the medical examiner confirmed the 12 year old’s allegations of sexual abuse, Ahad and Milad were once again questioned by the authorities, but this time, they stated that when they engaged in the alleged abusive acts, they were not in a normal state of mind.

Eventually, Ahad and Milad denied having sexually abused the 12 year old, stating that they had no intention of abusing or harming the 12 year old in any way. Their only intent, according to the accused teenagers, was to show their friend the squirrel on the rooftop.

The accused teenagers, who are 16 and 17 years old, maintained their innocence during the following proceedings. Accordingly, 5 judges of Branch 74 of Tehran province’s general criminal court, convened after the trial, after which two different opinions emerged.

Noting the confessions of Ahad and Milad, as well as other evidence presented in the case, such as the medical examiner’s report, two of the five judges sentenced the defendants to death by hanging. However, the majority of the judges refused to sentence the defendants to death, noting their young ages at the time of the incident, as well as the fact that they had denied the charges against them on 4 different occasions, and had stated that they never had the legally requisite intent to sexually abuse the 12 year old. The judges then proceeded to sentence the defendants to 10 years in prison.

This is the second time in the past month that the judges of Tehran province’s general criminal court have rejected executing defendants, whose crimes were committed when they were under the age of 18. The judges based their ruling on the argument that, at the time of the alleged crimes, the defendants lacked the requisite mental maturity to understand the nature of their actions.

Iran’s children’s rights activists consider these latest rulings to be substantial positive steps towards establishing legal standards that protect minor offenders in accordance with international human, civil, and children rights standards.

The cases of 15 year old Nosrat, 16 year old Ahad, and 17 year old Milad have been transferred to Iran’s supreme court for further review. Legal experts remain confident that the supreme court will uphold the ruling of the lower courts in these cases, and will issue a permanent commutation of the teenagers’ execution sentences.