World Figures Join Voices Against Iranian LGBT+ Activists’ Death Sentences

December 17, 2022

2 min read

Zahra Sedighi (Sareh) and Elham Choubdar have been sentenced to death on the charge of spreading “corruption on Earth.”

More than 150 writers, artists, politicians, and other influential figures are calling on Iran to overturn the death sentences of two Iranian women accused of promoting homosexuality, a German-based group says.

Pen Berlin, a nongovernment organization defending freedom of expression, launched on December 16 a campaign to free LGBT+ activists Zahra Sedighi (Sareh), 33, and Elham Choubdar, 24.

The organization published a video showing public figures and celebrities holding a piece of paper calling on for #FreeSareh and #FreeElham.

These personalities include 2022 Nobel Prize laureate in literature Annie Ernaux, German author and journalist Carolin Emcke, American historian Susan Stryker, German lawmaker Tessa Ganserer and French writer Helene Cixous.

The arrests and prosecutions of Sareh and Elham came amid a bloody state crackdown on nationwide protests triggered by the September death of a 22-year-old woman in the custody of morality police.

“The current revolution in Iran is a feminist revolution that is also fighting to end the violence against LGBTIQ people in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Nobody should be sentenced to death for speaking out on matters of love,” PEN Berlin member Jayrome Robinet said in a statement.

The statement said Sareh was arrested in West Azerbaijan Province while attempting to flee to Turkey, after she defended LGBT+ rights in social media posts. She has also conducted interviews and Instagram lives and ran a Telegram group where she wrote about LGBT+ issues.

The Prosecutor-General’s office in Urmia has charged Sareh and Elham with corruption on Earth for allegedly “promoting homosexuality,” “promoting Christianity” and communicating with Persian-language media opposed to the Islamic Republic.

The Iranian clerical regime has a long record of executing activists who speak out for human rights on fabricated charges. Under Iranian law, same-sex sexual conduct is a criminal offence, with punishments ranging from flogging to the death penalty.

PEN Berlin and 6Rang appeal to everyone to join their campaign and post a picture using #FreeElham #FreeSareh.

An online petition to “save the lives of Sareh and Elham” has gathered more than 117,000 signatures so far.