Iranian authorities have released most of the “gay” men arrested at a birthday party last month. Police raided a gay man’s birthday party in Isfahan, carting away over 80 attendees. Despite international outrage, police toed the government’s anti-gay line. They later released a number of the men and women, who allege they were beaten and tortured while in custody.
Now, nearly a month after the arrests, the rest of the detainee have been released. While not all of the party goers have been charged, Pink News UK reports that 26 have been released on bail, which means they’ll likely stand trial for homosexuality and drinking alcohol. If found guilty, they may be executed.
Iranian Queer Organization’s leader, Arsham Parsi used the news to highlight Iran’s human rights abuses:
Obviously this crackdown is yet another systematic violation of human rights, along with brutal suppression of womens’ movements in Iran and must be strongly protested by all human rights organizations as yet another violation of people’s private rights and liberties.
This means that for now, what is urgently needed is to strongly object to this gross violation of human rights and the invasion of young people’s lives and dignity
It remains unclear if all the men have been released. One may still remain in custody…
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