Update 14. November 2023: Sareh Is Free! Iranian LGBT+ activist Sareh (Zahra Sedighi Hamedani), recently released from prison after the cancellation of her death sentence, has safely arrived in a secure country. She extends her gratitude to fellow LGBT+ activists who supported her in the journey to freedom. The efforts of the Iranian LGBT+ community, along with global support, have successfully secured her relocation to a free and democratic country where she can now live with her children.

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Update – 20 March 2023: Sareh and Elham have been released from prison on bail. A court hearing for both women has been scheduled for the 12th of April. That is why we need to keep up the pressure. Sign now to help free Elham and Sareh.

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Update – 29 December 2022: The death sentences for Sareh and Elhman have been officially lifted. Now it’s time to dial up the pressure to help make sure that all charges against Sareh and Elham are dropped and they are released.

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Update – 05 September 2022: Today, following public outrage over their arrest, Iranian authorities justified the ruling by claiming that Sareh and Elham have been involved in "trafficking women to a neighbouring country" and denied they were being sentenced to death because of their activism. We must dial up the pressure right now to help save Sareh and Elham's lives.

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Update – 01 September: Today, Sareh has been sentenced to death by the dictatorship in Iran for "Corruption on Earth". Her friend Elham Choubdar has been sentenced to death for the same reason. Sometime after Sareh’s arrest, Elham was also arrested while in Iran and, similarly to Sareh, was charged with "encouraging corruption and prostitution." The forced confessions of other detainees were used as evidence against her. Sareh is 31 years old and Elham is only 24! We must dial up the pressure right now to help save Sareh and Elham's lives.

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In October 2021, Zahra Sedighi-Hamadani, a gender equality activist also known as Sareh, was arrested by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) in Iran while she was attempting to cross the border to seek asylum in Turkey. She was charged with crossing the border illegally and targeted for participating in an interview with BBC Persian and speaking up on the situation of LGBT+ persons in Erbil, Iraq.

In a statement, the IRGC accused Sareh of: “Promoting homosexuality, gambling, fraud, and promoting illicit sexual relations and publishing them on the Internet." No evidence has been offered by the IRGC to substantiate these baseless accusations, nor has Sareh benefitted from any due process. Reports indicate that Sareh was coerced into confessing to these “crimes,” potentially through acts of torture, including solitary confinement and threats that the State will take custody of her two children.

These accusations can lead to capital punishment.

It is clear to all of us that what has taken place is not due process, but a re-run of a show familiar to many of us who grew up in the suffocating atmosphere of the Islamic Republic. Sareh and Elham must be released immediately and unconditionally. 

We ask you not to ignore Sareh and Elham’s detention and sign this petition for their freedom.

This campaign is run by 6Rang and ILGA Asia, in conjunction with 55 organisations that signed this statement.