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Thief’s Hand Amputated in Public in Iran; Official Cleric Calls for Reinstating Islamic Punishments
The reformist website Rooz reported on April 5, 2007 that the Friday prayer leader of Shiraz, a city in the heart of Iran, had called for more public punishments, as prescribed by "hodud," Islamic penal law. After a convicted thief’s hand was amputated in public in Kermanshah, Ayatollah Mohiyeddin Shirazi, an appointee of the supreme leader of Iran, criticized the halting of public punishments, and added, "Those who say that practices like amputating hands belong to the past are themselves part of the past." He also claimed that imprisonment had no effect "on educating criminals and reducing crime." At a meeting with judges from Fars province, Shirazi argued that public punishments are more effective that imprisonment: "Prison and imprisoning individuals do not have an effect on educating criminals and reducing crime. They also add to corruption." He also called for using criminals convicted for drug-related charges as forced labor. Kermanshah judiciary head Allahyar Malekshahi promised more amputations in the future and said that citizens had requested the public amputation. According to Rooz, following the punishment Malekshahi told IRNA that the punishment had been approved by Iran’s Supreme Court. He added that if thieves "don’t want their hands cut off, they should stop stealing." Also, the Etemad daily quoted Kermanshah’s governor as saying that carrying out hodud in public "has a visible effect on controlling the crime rate." Source: Rooz, April 5, 2007
Posted at: 2007-04-06
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