8/24/2007

Street Justice In Tehran

Or at least justice as it occurs on the street. Gleaned from the Daily Mail via Snoop at politicalpartypoop.com:

His face covered by a balaclava, an official brandishing a cane repeatedly lashes the back of a man found guilty of breaking Iran's morality laws.

Two police officers hold the legs of 25-year-old Saeed Ghanbari and another his arms to ensure there is no escape from the punishment of 80 lashes handed down by a religious court.

Traffic was brought to a halt in Qazvin, 90 miles west of the capital Tehran, as more than 1,000 men gathered behind barricades to watch the public flogging.
So why was this terrible thing happening to Saeed? The Daily Mail continues:

It was unclear exactly what his offence had been as the country's strict morality laws cover many areas, but it was reported he had been convicted of abusing alcohol and having sex outside of marriage.

The public lashings have been endorsed by the judiciary as a way of deterring alcohol abuse at a time when it is on the increase among young men but some religious leaders are said to be questioning their validity, fearing they have an adverse impact on the country's image abroad.

Although men and women convicted of flouting public morals are routinely flogged in detention centres, public floggings are considered rare.

Hmmmm. It seems to me that if our own judicial system called for public floggings for people who got drunk and had sex outside of marriage, there'd be a whole shitload of public floggings going on.

Lesson to be learned: Don't move to Iran.