European Court Blocks Deportation To Iran For Flogging

On Thursday, the European Court of Human Rights handed down a decision in the case of D. and Others v. Turkey , holding that that there would be a breach of Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights (the prohibition of inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment) if Turkey's decision to deport an Sunni woman to Iran is enforced. (Press release by Council of Europe.) A.D., a Sunni Muslim woman married P.S., a Shia man, in a Sunni ceremony in Iran. Two days after the wedding the couple were arrested at the behest of Shia religious authorities. Three weeks later an Islamic court judge declared the marriage void and fined the couple. Subsequently they were informed that they had each been sentenced to 100 lashes for fornication, though the imposition of the sentence on the wife was postponed. The couple then fled to Turkey where they were denied permanent asylum. They sued when the Turkish government told them they risked deportation back to Iran.