A film director from Iran, a country that executes and forcibly sex changes gay people, lectured President Donald Trump about Muslims at the Oscars Sunday night.
Asghar Farhadi boycotted the award ceremony over Trump’s travel ban, but had someone else read a statement in his place when his film “Salesman” won in the best foreign language film category. “I’m sorry I’m not with you tonight,” he said, launching into an explanation of the merits of inclusivity and human dignity, while praising his country, which is known for hanging gay people. (RELATED: State Department Officially Calls Iran’s Forced Sex Change Surgeries ‘Confirmation’)
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“My absence is out of respect for the people of my country and those of other six nations who have been disrespected by the inhumane law that bans entry of immigrants to the U.S.,” he added. A prominent Iranian American engineer read the statement in his place, and was accompanied by another Iranian who made his name in America as a former NASA director.
“Dividing the world into the ‘us’ and ‘our enemies’ categories creates fears,” the statement continued. “A deceitful justification for aggression and war. These wars prevent democracy and human rights in countries which have themselves been victims of aggression.”
Stories of state executions of gay people are not uncommon in Farhadi’s birth country.
Iran hung a teenage boy last year who was arrested when he was a high-schooler on charges of forced gay sex. The boy admitted to the sex, but maintained the sex with two other boys was consensual. Amnesty International condemned the execution.
“He had no access to a lawyer and the judiciary rushed through the investigation and prosecution, convicting and sentencing him to death within two months of his arrest as though they could not execute him quickly enough,” Magdalena Mughrabi, Deputy Middle East and North Africa Programme Director at Amnesty International said in a statement.
“Iran has proved that its sickening enthusiasm for putting juveniles to death, in contravention of international law, knows no bounds,” she added.
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