Iran Charges Famous Kurdish Singer With Being Gay, Penalty is Death

                                    

Mohsen Lorestani, Kurdish singer  

(Jerusalem Post)

Iran has alleged that a prominent singer is gay and under the Islamic Republic’s anti-homosexual laws he could face the death penalty.

BBC journalist Ali Hamedani tweeted on Sunday that “A famous Iranian singer from the Kurdish province of Kermanshah has been ‘accused’ of being a homosexual and could face execution. Iran executes gay men.” 

Volker Beck, a German Green Party politician, and LGBTQ activist told The Jerusalem Post that "It is a perversion of unjust states like Iran and Saudi Arabia that alleged or actual homosexuality is presented as an accusation that can cost you your life. It is time for the international community to outlaw states punishing homosexuals."

The Kurdistan Human Rights Network tweeted that “Mohsen Lorestani, a Kurdish singer from Kermanshah, has been charged with ‘corruption on earth’ in a public complaint. His lawyer told Kurdistan Human Rights Network, ‘The alleged incidents happened in a private chat.’ If convicted, this charge could result in a death sentence.”  

Iran News Wire reported that “Well known Iranian Kurdish singer, Mohsen Lorestani was charged with ‘corruption on earth’ by a court in Tehran for posting ‘immoral’ content on social media. ‘Corruption on earth’ can carry the death sentence.” 

The Jerusalem Post first reported on the Iranian regime’s public hanging of a homosexual in January based on the country’s anti-gay law. The unidentified man was hanged on January 10 in the southwestern city of Kazeroon based on criminal violations of “lava-e be onf” – sexual intercourse between two men, as well as kidnapping charges, according to ISNA. Iran’s radical sharia law system prescribes the death penalty for gay sex.

According to a 2008 British WikiLeaks dispatch, Iran’s mullah regime has executed “between 4,000 and 6,000 gays and lesbians” since the Islamic Revolution in 1979.
In 2016, The Jerusalem Post reported that Iran’s regime had executed a gay adolescent that year – the first confirmed execution of someone convicted as a juvenile in the Islamic Republic.

Hassan Afshar, 19, was hanged in Arak Prison in Iran’s Markazi Province on July 18, 2016, after he was convicted of “forced male-to-male anal intercourse” in early 2015.

In 2011, Iran’s regime executed three Iranian men after being found guilty of charges related to homosexuality.