Judges To Order More Lashings Than Prison Sentences(IranVNC)

Judges should issue lashings instead of prison sentences whenever possible. That's what Iran's Judiciary Chief Ayatollah Shahroudi ordered yesterday in an interview on state TV.

"Some of Iran's judges, who are affected by slogans from the outside world, do not choose lashings, but in my opinion, this is one of the best punishments, especially if it is carried out in public, because [its] deterrent effect is greater." (Iranian Channel 2 TV, June 26, 2008)

His preference for lashing over jail sentence reportedly is due to Iran's overcrowded prisons...130 as of last year with 41 under construction

According to a survey by the UK-based International Center for Prison Studies (ICPS) last year, nearly 160,000 prisoners occupied facilities in Iran that should hold a maximum of 65,000.

Shahroudi supports lashing as a sentence also to spare offenders "the greater damage" of imprisonment. According to the State Department 2008 Report on Human Rights Practices:

"Human rights activists and domestic press reported cases of political prisoners confined in the same wing as violent felons. There were allegations that authorities deliberately incarcerated nonviolent offenders with violent offenders, anticipating they would be killed... [and] juvenile offenders being detained with adult offenders."

The same report indicates common methods of abuse in Iranian prisons, such as: prolonged solitary confinement with sensory deprivation, beatings, hanging detainees by the arms and legs, sleep deprivation and beatings with cables on the back, soles of the feat and the ears.

While Shahroudi is advocating lashing, as the "best" and "most just" method of punishment, international human rights groups like Human Rights Watch oppose it "in all circumstances as a cruel and inhuman punishment."

Iran's Penal Code already assigns lashing to several offenses, including:
- 100 lashes for adultery between unmarried couples (Article 88)
- 100 lashes for lesbianism (Article 129)
- 80 lashes for false accusation (Article 140)
- And same number of lashes for intoxication (Article 174)

Despite these specific reprimands, Article 105 of the Penal Code gives the Shari'a judge the freedom to act upon his own knowledge in carrying out the punishment.

It remains to be seen how other judges will act on Shahroudi's order. Ironically, the judiciary chief who is now advocating public lashing, six months ago banned execution in public.

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