Man Publicly Flogged in Iran For Allegedly Getting Drunk 12 Years Earlier
A courtroom in Iran.
A man identified by local media as “M. R.” was publicly flogged 80 times in the Iranian city of Kashmar on July 10, 2018, for allegedly drinking alcohol as a teenager at a wedding 12 years earlier.
The state-funded Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA) reported that the city’s prosecutor, Gholamreza Taleie, said the man had been convicted of consuming alcohol and participating in a brawl that led to the death of a wedding guest but the man had not caused the death.
The man, who was 15 at the time of the incident, had been on the run for more than a decade until his arrest three days earlier on July 7, 2018, when he walked into a judicial office in Kashmar to inquire about a separate case.
According to Article 265 of Iran’s Islamic Penal Code, the “consumption of intoxicants” is punishable by 80 lashes.
The United Nations has declared flogging a cruel and inhuman punishment tantamount to torture.
“The judiciary will not hesitate to implement Islamic law and will especially deal firmly with people who drink alcohol and take part in group fights,” Taleie was quoted as saying by ISNA.
A photo posted by dissident activist Masih Alinejad on her Instagram page appears to show “M. R.” tied to a tree as he is being flogged by a man in a hood.
Over 100 flogging sentences were issued in Iran in 2017 and at least 50 were reportedly implemented according to the UN.
In May 2016, more than 30 young men and women underwent 99 lashes each for dancing together at a graduation party in Qazvin, 94 miles west of Tehran.
In December 2014, 17 mine workers in the northwestern city of Takab were lashed after their employer sued them for protesting against the firing of hundreds of their colleagues.
