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Eighteen-year-old Ebrahim Hamidi has been sentenced to death by a court in the Iranian city of Tabriz, on charges that he sexually assaulted another man.
His accuser has since withdrawn the assault claim in a sworn affidavit, admitting that he lied under parental pressure. But Ebrahim is still scheduled to hang.
Two years ago, Ebrahim caught the alleged sex attack victim damaging his father's crops. There had been a history of feuding between their families. A fist fight ensued, involving Ebrahim and some friends. During the fracas, the accuser's trousers slipped down 20cm, which he claimed was evidence of a sexual assault.
Ebrahim and three friends were arrested on sodomy charges and tortured in a detention centre for three days. Ebrahim was hanged upside down by his legs and badly beaten. To stop this abuse, he signed a confession.
There is no evidence that Ebrahim is gay or that a sexual assault took place; just the word of one person against another and a confession under torture, which was later retracted.
At his first trial in 2008, Ebrahim was sentenced to hang on the basis of the “knowledge of the judge” — a bizarre legal protocol whereby, in the absence of sufficient evidence to convict in sodomy and adultery cases, a judge is free to assess that a person is guilty.
Ebrahim's death sentence is in defiance of the Supreme Court of Iran, which has twice rejected the local court's guilty verdict and ordered a re-examination of the case, citing errors in the legal investigation and an “issue of doubt”.
These two Supreme Court rulings against conviction and execution have been ignored by the judiciary in Tabriz.
At the third and most recent trial in June, Ebrahim's three co-defendants were acquitted. He was not. Two of the five Tabriz judges cleared him of all charges but the other three upheld his execution order.
Soon afterwards, a third appeal was submitted to the Supreme Court. Alas, at this crucial stage in his appeal, Ebrahim suddenly has no legal representation, which puts him in great peril. His lawyer, Mohammad Mostafaei, was forced into hiding after a warrant was issued for his arrest.
He has since fled Iran, fearing that the government was planning to jail him over his highly publicised efforts to stop the stoning to death of a 43-year-old woman, Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, on charges of adultery. She, too, was sentenced by a Tabriz court.
Without a lawyer, Ebrahim cannot further challenge the death sentence. If the Supreme Court this time confirms his execution, he could be hanged in a matter of days. Hanging in Iran is by sadistic strangulation. The noosed victim is hoisted by a crane, which causes them to writhe and convulse. They die a slow, painful death from asphyxiation.
Ebrahim's case highlights the flaws and injustices of Iran's legal system. It is further evidence that innocent people are sentenced on false charges of homosexuality, often after torture.
To avoid the hangman's noose, Ebrahim's best hope is to persuade the Chief Justice of Iran, Sadeq Larijani, to veto his hanging. I have written to the Foreign Secretary, William Hague, urging him to press the Chief Justice to halt Ebrahim's execution, annul the death sentence and order a retrial. I hope MPs, and the public, will lobby the Iranian ambassador to save both Ebrahim and Sakineh.
Reader views (12)
Iran is a repressive, semi Nazi, state.
Anyone who fails to toe the line drawn by thugs who claim to speak for God
is in trouble.
I'm not keen on gay pride, any more than hetero pride, but Peter Tatchell has the courage of his convictions.
I wish our politicians had equally strong convictions on Iran.
This would include assisting Iranian opposition movements, putting pressure on
its nuclear ambitions & closing down its British propaganda machine, Press TV.
- The Convenient Truth, Reading, England, 17/08/2010 09:30
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James Fenton will be along to tell you how Islamophobic you are
And if not, then the biased mods will
- John Smith, London, 16/08/2010 20:40
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The thing to note is that it's the same person who was representing this Ebrahim chap and the other women who he alleged was going to be stoned, and by a coincidence, these allegations came as he made his way out of Iran to Norway.
Fact is, the woman was charged and found guilty of murder and I daresay the same thing is going on in this case, except that the facts are not being reported in the western press.
There's a good reason why the facts are not being reported. I think there's a lot of anti-Iran propaganda around because Iran is being softened up for a military attack. The aim of the game in Iraq and Afghanistan was to always get at Iran; the US has been plotting this for the last 30 years.
The crocodile tears over these two people are merely paving the way for a wider attack against the whole of Iran.
The fact that Ebrahim is gay is merely a sideshow but useful for Tatchell because he is immediately on the bandwagon. He is a useful idiot in the plan to bomb Iran.
- Bilal, London, UK, 13/08/2010 00:00
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@Duncan Walker
We are not ramming sexuality down your throat no more than you heterosexuals are doing to use so if you don't want us to be as open and expressive as you are then you first go into your heterosexuals closet and stop shoving your sexuality down our throats.
We will and are going to have our equal rights and expressions with heterosexuals wether you like it or not, and if not then move to Iran or Iraq.
- Mark, London, 09/08/2010 19:49
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What strange comments! You are simply being asked to lend your support to a campaign to save a teenager from being hanged.
This has got nothing to do with Islam - this is how an oppressive regime behaves when it is dependant on the enforced compliance of its subjects for survival. Similar atrocities are committed in extreme Christian, communist and other totalitarian states. This is not even about homosexuality, such regimes will use many excuses to terrorise and subjugate. Of course there is always a wider context to all this, which I think Peter Tatchell is cognisant of. And there are indeed debates to be had about how to pursue amicable international relations in a globalised world, though I don't think a 21st century Crusade against all Muslims is a reasonable or viable proposition.
Is this mixed-up thinking representative of Evening Standard readers, or is this just the bonkers minority? Don't worry Mr Walker, I doubt if Peter Tatchell will bother going to Thailand to force his sexuality down your throat - I trust you're not forcing yours down anyone's throat there.
Thankfully, there are plenty of people who do have a heart and will respond appropriately.
Thank you Peter, for helping to make the voices of ordinary people count and have an impact.
- Alice Squire, Aberdeen, Scotland, 09/08/2010 19:31
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It is your Liberal-Lefty attitude that allows and condones these actions by radical Muslims. Deal with it or rethink your whole agenda.
Why we have diplomatic relations with this regime and let them build modern consulates here in London is just beyond me. Our consulate in Tehran is a bomb shelter, mostly due to the regular, government organised, violent demonstrations.
- Frank, Home Counties, England., 09/08/2010 11:20
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I have created a page on facebook " Save Ebrahim Hamidi from being hanged till Death in Iran" and I have been campaigning about the Ebrahim hamidi case with the Indian masses too.. I have learnt a lot about This 18 year old kid from your articles. I really appreciate what you're doing. Please let me also join in this fight for humanity. getting inspired from teh recent london protest me along witht the group of people have decided to protest in front of iranian embassy in india. But it is all unplanned right now. I would love you to suggest me on it. My facebook anme is Sambhav K Sharma and my email id is sk.sambhav@gmail.com
- Sambhav K Sharma, Delhi, India, 09/08/2010 11:17
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"The only people that care about your sexuality are yourselves."
Erm... this entire article is about a government that cares so much about people's sexuality that it executes people who don't conform!
I'm sure Peter Tatchell would like nothing better than to live in a society where people genuinely didn't care about other people's sexuality, but despite huge progress in the last thirty years we're still some way off that.
- Michael, London, 09/08/2010 09:45
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This from a man that DEMANDS you tolerate him and his lifestyle yet shows a ZERO tolerance for anybody that has the temerity to disagree in his thinking and is one of the most bigoted, intolerant people that I can think of. I'm not homophobic but rather homonausic. IE sick of having other peoples sexuality rammed down my throat at every opportunity. The only people that care about your sexuality are yourselves.
- Duncan Walker, Ex Peckham now Thailand, 09/08/2010 08:20
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Live in a 3rd world country , you have 3rd world ideas like this , whats more sad is that the 3rd world lives in London and leeds , Bradford etc !
- Simon, France Nice, 07/08/2010 13:36
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I don't want to see anyone hung for any reason. The trouble is that different peoples have their own social rules in their home regions - you don't have to like them to know that this is how it works. Perhaps you might consider going to Iran to protest. Every great society altering change requires martyrs after all, if my memory of history serves me correctly.
- Rogan, Irving, 06/08/2010 18:31
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"the flaws and injustices of Iran's legal system"
That's putting it mildly!
Good on you for never tiring to highlight these injustices in all these abject nations ruled by religious and other nutters.
- Alex, Fulham, 06/08/2010 14:22
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