Outrage as Iran accused of executing gay teens
Two teenagers have been executed after a religious court found them guilty of homosexuality, pro-democracy groups in Iran have claimed.
The Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA) reports that the executions took place on July 19 in the northeastern city of Mashhad.
A report of the executions was also carried on the website of the democratic opposition movement, The National Council of Resistance Of Iran.
ISNA says one of the teens was aged 18, the other was a minor, believed to be aged 16 or 17. The organization ran a picture of what it said was the execution on its website.
The English language Iran In Focus also reported the executions, saying the teens were hanged in public in the city square.
It quotes sources as saying the teens were executed for having sex with another minor but this could not be confirmed. Under Sharia law the victim of a sexual assault must also be executed.
Both news services say that prior to their execution, the teenagers were held in prison for 14 months and severely beaten.
Ruhollah Rezazadeh, the lawyer for the younger teen, reportedly had appealed the death sentence but the Supreme Court in Tehran ordered him to be hanged.
Under the Iranian penal code, girls as young as nine and boys as young as 15 can be hanged.
Three other young gay Iranians are reportedly being hunted by police, but they are said to have gone into hiding and cannot be found.
