FEATURED POST

Texas sets execution date for man accused in shaken baby case

Published
Image
Lawyers for Robert Robertson say the science used to sentence him to death is questionable and that prior health issues could explain the death of his 2-year-old daughter in 2003. A Texas court on Monday set an execution date for Robert Roberson, who was sentenced to death in 2003 for killing his 2-year-old daughter but has consistently challenged the conviction on the claim that it was based on questionable science.

Homosexuals are inferior to dogs and pigs, says Iranian cleric

Published
Ayatollah Javadi-Amoli has blamed homosexuals for spread of Aids and says pro-gay politicians are lower than animals.

An influential Iranian cleric who is entitled to issue juristic rulings according to the Sharia law, has condemned western lawmakers involved in the decriminalisation of homosexuality, saying those politicians are lower than animals.

Ayatollah Abdollah Javadi-Amoli, an Islamic scholar based in Iran's holy city of Qom, said in a speech among his followers that homosexuals are inferior to dogs and pigs, according to the news website Khabaronline.

"If a society commits a new sin, it will face a new punishment," he said while interpreting Qur'anic verses about prophet Lot whose tribe Isalmic scholars say was punished by God for sodomy. "Problems like Aids did not exist before."

Citing the Qur'an, Javadi-Amoli said politicians who pass laws in favour of homosexuals are lower than animals. "Even animals ... dogs and pigs don't engage in this disgusting act [homosexuality] but yet they [western politicians] pass laws in favour of them in their parliaments."

Homosexuality is punishable by death according to fatwas issued by almost all Iranian clerics. Until recently, Lavat (sodomy for men) was punishable by death for all individuals involved in consensual sexual intercourse.

But under new amendments approved recently in the Iranian parliament the person who played an active role will be flogged 100 times if the sex was consensual and he was not married, but the one who played a passive role will still be put to death regardless of his marriage status.

Despite the horrific punishment for homosexuals in Iran, the gay community in the country is alive underground and has won some recognition by coming out in defiance of the regime.

In September 2011, a group of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Iranians launched a campaign on Facebook, highlighting the discrimination against sexual minorities in Iran where homosexuals are put to death.

Source: Agence France-Presse, April 19, 2012
Location: Iran
Related content:

Most Viewed (Last 7 Days)

Texas sets execution date for man accused in shaken baby case

Published
Image
Lawyers for Robert Robertson say the science used to sentence him to death is questionable and that prior health issues could explain the death of his 2-year-old daughter in 2003. A Texas court on Monday set an execution date for Robert Roberson, who was sentenced to death in 2003 for killing his 2-year-old daughter but has consistently challenged the conviction on the claim that it was based on questionable science.
Read more

U.S. | 'I comfort death row inmates in their final moments - the execution room is like a house of horrors'

Published
Image
Reverend Jeff Hood, 40, wants to help condemned inmates 'feel human again' and vows to continue his efforts to befriend murderers in spite of death threats against his family A reverend who has made it his mission to comfort death row inmates in their final days has revealed the '"moral torture" his endeavor entails. Reverend Dr. Jeff Hood, 40, lives with his wife and five children in Little Rock, Arkansas. But away from his normal home life, he can suddenly find himself holding the shoulder of a murderer inside an execution chamber, moments away from the end of their life. 
Read more

Japan | Man sentenced to death over murder-robbery

Published
Image
A 39-year-old man was sentenced to death Tuesday for murdering a woman and her son and robbing them at her residence in Oita Prefecture, southwestern Japan, in 2020. During the trial at the Oita District Court, prosecutors sought the death penalty for Shoichi Sato, presenting evidence including DNA from the trunk of Sato's car that matched the female victim, Takako Yamana. 
Read more

Albania asks China to avoid the death penalty for an Albanian citizen

Published
Image
The Government of Albania has asked the judicial authorities in China on Tuesday to avoid the death penalty in the criminal case against an Albanian citizen accused of drug trafficking. It is learned that the Prosecutor's Office in the city of Guangzhou, in the province of Guangdong, has requested the death penalty for the 36-year-old Albanian. No other details have been provided for this case.
Read more

Saudi court revokes India man’s death penalty, to be released from jail soon

Published
Image
Kozhikode/ Riyadh: A criminal court in Riyadh has overturned the death sentence of Machilakath Abdul Rahim, a resident of Seenath Manzil in Kodambuzha, who had been imprisoned in Saudi Arabia for the past 18 years for the murder of a Saudi national.  The court’s decision came after the victim's relatives appeared in court and expressed their willingness to forgive Rahim in exchange for blood money.
Read more