A gay Iranian refugee has shared harrowing details of abuse he endured after being arrested in Iran, including being forced to watch executions. Activist Ramtin Zigorat, now living in Spain after fleeing Iran six-and-a-half years ago, said he spent 40 days in a detention center where he faced severe mistreatment.
Zigorat described experiencing physical and psychological torture, saying he was beaten, recorded, urinated on, and treated like an animal. After being sentenced to several death penalties on charges including being a spy, for sharing homosexual diseases, and for going against Islam, he was transferred to another prison.
He told El Mundo America: “Every morning they forced us to look out a window at the courtyard where they executed people so we would know how they were going to kill us. We had to watch for five minutes while they died. If we closed our eyes, they would beat us. I still have nightmares about that.” Zigorat eventually escaped Iran with help from his family.
