30 March 2017

Iranian man sentenced to death for 'insulting Islam' through messaging app

Human rights groups fighting to save Sina Dehghan from hanging for messages he sent as a teenager. A 21-year-old man has been sentenced to death by Iranian authorities for “insulting Islam” through messages he sent on an instant messenger app.

Human rights lawyers claim that Sina Dehghan, who was just 19 when he sent the messages, was tricked into signing his own death warrant after being persuaded to confess to the breach of Islamic law with the promise of release if he did so.

But after obtaining a confession, prosecutors dropped the agreement and sentenced Dehghan to death in January this year, according to the Centre for Human Rights in Iran. [The Independent] Read more