REPORT: 3 HANGED FOR BEING GAY IN IRAN

A report from Iran claims that three men accused of being gay were among six hanged for various crimes on Sunday.

According to Iran Human Rights (IHR), the state-run Iranian news agency reported that the three men, only identified as “M. T.”, “T. T.” and “M. Ch.”, were hanged in the Karoun prison in southwest Iran.

The agency said that they were convicted of contravening articles 108 and 110 of the Iranian Islamic penal code which deals with “sodomy,” defined as “sexual intercourse between men”.

The agency said that the men had also been convicted of kidnapping and robbery.

”Yesterday’s executions for sodomy might be among the rare cases where the Iranian authorities admit to having executed men convicted of homosexual acts,” said Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, spokesperson of IHR, who condemned the executions.

He explained that “Iranian authorities normally present such cases as rape, but rape has not been mentioned in this case”.

The other three men who were hanged had been found guilty of offences including drug trafficking, rape and robbery.

IHR said that it is continuing to investigate the details of the executions.