[ad_1]
ISLAMABAD, Dec. 8 (AP) — Twenty-seven people were publicly flogged Thursday in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan for alleged adultery, theft, drug offenses and other crimes, according to a court official.
The new Afghan authorities have implemented a tough policy since taking over the country in August 2021, emphasizing their interpretation of Sharia law, or Sharia law.
The country’s highest court issued its final ruling following an appeal.
A total of 18 men and nine women were punished in the flogging in the northern province of Parwan, the court said in a statement.
Read also | Afghanistan: The Taliban publicly whipped 27 people for adultery, theft, drug crimes and other crimes.
Court official Abdul Rahim Rashid said the men and women were each whipped 25 to 39 times.
He added that the number of people sentenced to two years in prison in the provincial capital Charakar was unknown.
Rashid added that the flogging was preceded by a “public gathering of locals and officials”.
The public punishment was attended by provincial officials and local residents, in which officials spoke about the importance of Sharia law, the court statement added.
Thursday’s caning came a day after Taliban authorities executed an Afghan convicted of killing another man, the first public execution since the former insurgent returned to power last year.
The execution was carried out by the victim’s father with an assault rifle in front of hundreds of spectators and many senior Taliban officials in western Farah province, according to Zabihullah Mujahid, the top government spokesman.
Some of the officials were from the capital, Kabul.
The execution was met with international criticism. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said: “The death penalty cannot be reconciled with full respect for the right to life,” spokeswoman Stephanie Tremblay said.
State Department spokesman Ned Price said in comments late Wednesday that the United States condemned the public executions.
Price said the Taliban’s future relationship with Washington “depends to a large extent on their actions on human rights.”
No foreign country officially recognizes the Taliban government that took over last year after U.S. and NATO troops withdrew. Before the US invasion in 2001, the Taliban ruled Afghanistan.
On Thursday, spokesman Mujahid dismissed international criticism of the Taliban government.
“Unfortunately, some countries and institutions still don’t have proper knowledge and knowledge about Afghanistan,” he said.
Mujahid noted that many other countries, including the United States, practice the death penalty.
Three men convicted of theft were publicly caned in the eastern province of Paktika earlier this week, another court statement said.
During the Taliban’s rule in Afghanistan in the late 1990s, the group carried out public executions, flogging and stoning.
After occupying Afghanistan in 2021, the Taliban initially promised to allow the rights of women and minorities. Instead, they restrict rights and freedoms, including banning girls from education beyond the sixth grade.
The former rebels have struggled to transition from war to power amid a sluggish economy and the withdrawal of aid from the international community. (Associated Press)
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)
[ad_2]
Source link