Apparently not everyone in Iran has the luxury of being hanged for their offenses. The head of Iran’s Judicial Authority is calling for more public floggings. All emphases mine.
Iran: Flogging an effective deterrent, says senior official
Tehran, 26 June (AKI) – Iran’s highest judicial authority, Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi, says public flogging is an effective criminal deterrent, while imprisonment is a useless punishment.
In an interview broadcast on state TV on Wednesday night, the head of the country’s Judicial Authority complained that “many Iranian judges, influenced by western propaganda and fearing they will be accused of failing to respect human rights, are not sentencing offenders to effective penalties like public flogging“.
Imagine that. Some of their judges don’t want to be accused of failing to respect human rights. Too bad the mullahs aren’t so concerned.
While Shahroudi calls for more floggings, because it is one of the most “just” punishments, Amnesty International has called on Iran to stop using floggings and amputations as judicial punishments.
“Flogging is a form of cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment, which amounts to torture,” the organisation said.
Amnesty said it was outlawed under Article 7 of the United Nations International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
In its latest report, Amnesty International said sentences of flogging and amputation continued to be implemented in Iran, and torture and ill-treatment were widespread in prisons and detention centres.
Iran’s Islamic regime does not respect the human rights of its own citizenry. Why should we expect that these are people with whom we can negotiate? What would give us any indication that they have any respect for the rest of the world if they have no respect even for their own people?
And again, I have to ask if these are the kind of people with whom we should have unconditional talks. Well, Bambi?
And speaking of flogging, I suppose I really can’t complain about that last speeding ticket of mine…
Flogging or jail for bad driving
“Drivers who commit dangerous acts will be referred to court for harming public order and the court can sentence violators to three months to a year in jail or 74 lashes,” Mohammad Rouyanian was quoted as saying by the Kayhan newspaper.
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Flogging is allowed under Iran’s Islamic sharia law for crimes including theft and adultery even though in practice it has been used relatively infrequently in the past.
Filed under: Iran, Justice | Tagged: Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi, Flogging, Human Rights, Iran, Islam, Justice, Mohammad Rouyanian, Punishment, Sharia
