DEATH PENALTY IS HANDED TO IRANIAN MAN WHO SPARKED #METOO MOVEMENT

Sat 09 July 2022:

A man found guilty of multiple rapes received a preliminary death sentence from an Iranian court, local media reported on Saturday. This case gave rise to the #MeToo movement in Iran.

Keyvan Emamverdi, a former bookshop owner and archaeology student, was detained in August 2020 after at least 20 women, many of whom made their claims anonymously on Twitter, accused him of rape.

According to the ISNA news agency, Emamverdi was given a death sentence for “corruption on earth,” according to Shima Ghousheh, a lawyer for five of the plaintiffs.

In October 2020, Tehran’s police chief claimed the bookstore owner had confessed to raping “more than 300” women over 10 years, after no fewer than 30 people made complaints against him.

Ghousheh however said that the court had not addressed the issue of compensation for the victims, adding that they would “certainly object” over this.

The victims had come forward online with accusations that Emamverdi had spiked their drinks before raping them, sparking widespread anger in the Islamic republic.

One of the women is named Fataneh alleged that she went to Emamverdi’s house in August 2018 on his invitation. After accepting a drink, she said, she lost consciousness and came to naked on his bed the next morning.

The police then called on the accusers to file a complaint against the alleged offender, without fear of being accused of drinking alcohol or having sex outside marriage, both of which are illegal in Iran.

Iran’s strict code of repressive rules and lack of rule of law complicates the work of activists calling for accountability. On Twitter, some women said they didn’t want to bring lawsuits against their rapists since they deeply disagreed with the punishment meted out to them by law: execution by hanging. Out of hundreds of executions that Iran carries out every year, rape is one of the top convictions.

Also, when allegations against Emamverdi first surfaced, many women were worried that they might be prosecuted for having drunk alcohol in the first place.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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