Makvan Mouloodzadeh, a 21-year-old Iranian who was accused of committing anal rape when he was 13, was executed in Iran on the morning of Dec. 5, according to a release from the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission ( IGLHRC ) . The execution occurred despite an order from Iranian Chief Justice to cancel it.
In issuing his order, Chief Justice Ayatollah Seyed Mahmoud Hashemi Shahrudi thought that the death sentence violated the teachings of Islam, according to 365Gay.com.
At Mouloodzadeh's trial, witnesses retracted their prior testimonies, claiming that they had been forced to speak their statements. However, despite this development—and the fact that Mouloodzadeh said that he was coerced into a confession—an Iranian criminal court found him guilty in June and recommended death.
'This is a shameful and outrageous travesty of justice and international human rights law,' said IGLHRC Executive Director Paula Ettelbrick, IGLHRC's executive director. 'How many more young Iranians have to die before the international community takes action?'
Mouloodzadeh's family or his lawyer were not told about the execution until after it happened.
