Iran's Supreme Court upholds death sentence for man and woman for 'secret affair'

The Islamic Republic of Iran’s Supreme Court has upheld the death sentence for a woman and a married man for having a secret affair, reported The Times of Israel, which reported details of the sentencing on Sunday, citing the Sharq newspaper.

Sharq newspaper reported on Saturday, November 5, that a woman named Sara, 33, was having an affair with a man named Maysam, 27. The two were married and were prosecuted based on a complaint filed by Maysam's wife. Maysam's wife later dropped the complaint, but Sara's father-in-law sued her and Maysam for "marital adultery."

According to Islamic Republic laws, if a man and woman who have a permanent spouse and no impediment to intimacy with their spouses engage in sexual relations, they have committed adultery. Article 225 of the Islamic Penal Code stipulates stoning as the punishment for this crime. According to the Islamic Republic’s interpretation of Islamic law, the sentence for “adultery” is stoning, but since 2013, judges have been allowed to hang a person sentenced to death instead of stoning.

The Sharq newspaper report stated that initially Meysam and Sarah denied the sexual relationship, but after examining their mobile phones, which were provided to the police after their arrest, they confessed to having had sex.

Following the issuance of the death sentence in court and the objection of the two defendants to the sentence, the case is referred to the Supreme Court of the Islamic Republic, and the Supreme Court judges confirm the death sentence.

It is unclear how the death sentences of these two individuals will be carried out.

According to Amnesty International, the Islamic Republic government carried out at least 246 death sentences last year, the highest number among countries in the world after China.

Source: Voice of America