09 November 2021 :
Couple sentenced to death for adultery
It is unclear whether it is a homosexual couple. Several sources reported on November 5 the news that Branch 26 of the Supreme Court confirmed the death sentence of a couple of lovers, but commuted the initial stoning sentence to a "normal" hanging. The sources are divided equally between those who claim to be a man and a woman, both married, or two men. While waiting for the information to be clarified in the next few days, at the moment it seems that it is a heterosexual couple. The original source of the news would be the Rokna site, which in turn cites the newspaper "Shargh". Those involved are identified only by their first name: Sareh (female name), 33, and Meysam (male name), 27.
The man's wife, who presented police with video evidence of her husband's infidelity early this year, had asked the courts to spare the pair the death penalty, the Shargh daily said.
But her father demanded that the death sentence be imposed and the court found in his favour, the paper added.
Iranian law provides that if a victim's family forgives the accused in a capital crime, the convict can be either pardoned or given a jail sentence.
According to Rokna, the couple was arrested on 24 December 2020 following a complaint by Meysam’s wife.
“I married in 2014 and have a 4-year-old son now. I met Meysam some time ago and developed feelings for him. Meysam and I had gone to his bachelor pad in Yousef Abad in the middle of the night and were arrested at 8 in the morning,” Sareh had said during her interrogations.
According to the report, Meysam and Sareh plead not guilty but video footage submitted by Meysam’s wife was used as evidence in court. They both appealed the stoning sentence by the court of first instance. Branch 26 of the Supreme Court has now upheld the execution sentence and changed the stoning sentences to death by hanging.
Death by stoning which is considered cruel and barbaric by the international community, is a method of capital punishment sanctioned for adultery in Article 255 of the Islamic Penal Code. The medieval method requires a group to throw stones not big enough to kill instantly and not small enough to cause no injury, at the defendant until they die of blunt trauma.
According to the law, "upon the suggestion of a judge and with the consent of the Head of Judiciary, stoning can be converted to hanging if adultery is proven through four eyewitnesses or the defendant confessing four times. In cases where adultery is proven by elme-qazi (knowledge of the judge), the stoning sentence can be commuted to 100 lashes.”
Iran is one of six countries to maintain stoning in the Penal Code, although, thanks to international pressure, stoning has not been carried out in Iran since 2010.
Iran Human Rights | Article: Death Sentence of Man and Woman Upheld for Adultery | (iranhr.net)
Iran sentences pair to death for adultery | Rudaw.net
Iran sentences gay couple to death for adultery | The Times of Israel
Iran Sentences Pair To Death For Adultery: Report (ndtv.com)
