Iran to amputate man's hand for shop raid
An Iranian judge has ordered the amputation of the hand of a man who confessed to robbing a sweet shop, local media reported today.
Iran's semi-official Fars news agency said the chief judge of a Tehran court also sentenced the 21-year-old man, who was not identified, to a year in jail and ordered him to return the stolen items.
The ruling comes days after Iranian authorities amputated the hand of another man convicted of theft in the north-eastern city of Mashhad.
While Iran's hard-line judiciary follows a strict interpretation of Islamic law, enforcement of punishments such as amputation are rare.
Iranian authorities occasionally issue harsh rulings in an effort to stem the spread of corruption and disorder.
Critics, however, say amputations, public executions or floggings hurt Iran's international image and reflect badly on Islam.
Tehran has recently provoked an international outcry with the case of an Iranian woman who is sentenced to death by stoning for adultery.
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Martin Cassar
Oct 18th 2010, 13:45
@ Andrew Farrugia.
……….. And I invite you your good self along with Maltese viewers to watch this video clip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hefIti-uFUo&feature=related
Two of the three countries you mentioned down here have been implicated in ten years old useless wars that as yet didn’t achieve a thing but only to steal other countries’ oil and resources, while the third [country to be] is illegally occupying Palestinian's land and creating conditions for global terrorism and chaos!
Andrew Farrugia
Oct 18th 2010, 18:20
Now why is it that i am not at all surprised by your anti-Western rhetoric?
albert muscat
Oct 18th 2010, 01:01
Part: (2)
- The pillaged property should have been taken from a place where it had been put away.
- The theft itself has to be proven, either by the testimony of two qualified witnesses or by the confession of the thief twice. In case of slightest suspension the punishment MUST NOT BE CARRIED OUT.
- MOST IMPORTANTLY, the person from whom the property was pillaged has to ask for it back; if he does not, then (the thief’s) hand does not have to be cut off.
Yes it is harsh punishment, however we don’t have to look at theft while setting behind a computer screen, sipping a hot coffee and passing a comment. We must look in-depth at the cataclysmic sequences of thefts. Theft could drive companies out of business, families and kids could suffer and get destituted and dispossessed. Theft could also bankrupt the society, create insecurity, incohesion and social chaos. If this Sahria laws applicable on everyone, then why worry? Personally I don’t mind living under such laws. I fee safe, why should I steal after all? Don’t you like to live in a safe place? Sounds dandy for me indeed.
Andrew Farrugia
Oct 18th 2010, 10:48
You don't mind living under such (Sharia) laws; well, this is a free country and no one is stopping you from going there. Our Constitution which binds every single person on these islands will protect me and others from ever having to endure such barbarities.
albert muscat
Oct 18th 2010, 00:52
Why Iran think such penalty is essential to maintain common good.?
Last year I took the interest to investigate the matter with a qualified Muslim Imam about this serious punishment and I was informed the following:
Because cutting off the (left) hand is a serious matter it should not be done for just any case of theft. A combination of conditions must be fulfilled before the hand of a thief is cut off. These conditions are so many and quite complex, here I quote few:
-The thief must be an adult, Muslim and aware of thief’s punishment in the Quran.
-The thief must be in good mental order and not poor or in dire need.
-The pillaged property should be something of worth..
-The pillaged thing should have been taken by stealth; if it was not taken by stealth, then the hand should not be cut off, such as when property has been seized by force in front of other people, because in this case the owner of the property could have asked for help to stop the thief.
-The value of the pillaged property should be above a certain limit stipulated in Islamic court.
Andrew Farrugia
Oct 17th 2010, 19:24
The usual gaggle of equivocators have decided to switch focus from the brutality and inhumanity of a regime which destroys its own citizens and turn the spotlight to anti-British, anti-American, anti-Israeli conspiracy theories. What's all the fuss about? They are so blinded by their hatred of the West and democracy in particular that they will never ever condemn delinquents like Ahmadinejad and his proxy forces like Hamas and Hezbollah.
micallef a.
Oct 17th 2010, 16:47
Tomorrow watch wikileaks files uncovering the attrocities committed by the Americans
and the west in Iraq. Why all this fuss about this ugly story. The Americans and
the British murdered a million people in Iraq only and destroyed the country. Or
maybe the attrocities committed in Gaza.
Robert Callus
Oct 17th 2010, 18:02
Though one wrong does not justify the other, what you are saying is true. The real reason for all this loss of life from the US and its allies can be found clearly in this book, starting from the coup in Chile, 1973
http://www.naomiklein.org/shock-doctrine
l borg
Oct 17th 2010, 10:15
ONE THING IS FOR SURE HE WILL NOT DO IT AGAIN
PERHAPS THIS TYPE OF PUNISHMENT WORKS AFTER ALL
PEOPLE NEED TO BE PROTECTED AND LAWS HAVE TO BE OBEYED
IRAN HAS ONE OF THE LOWEST CRIME RATES IN THE WORLD
Msciberras
Oct 17th 2010, 11:18
I borg - no it doesn't. Iranian stats are unreliable & in any case do not cover crimes like widespread human rights abuses. Go easy on the caps dude
Robert Callus
Oct 17th 2010, 11:56
"IRAN HAS ONE OF THE LOWEST CRIME RATES IN THE WORLD"
Sure, and who do you think publishes the statistics? Also, what defines a crime? Is criticizing your govt a crime? In Iran probably it is. Here it's a Human Right. Iranians have to leave the country to commit a "crime" like writing this song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIP38eq-ywc
Andrew Farrugia
Oct 17th 2010, 13:11
Sure, Iran has one of the lowest crime rates in the world just because the criminals run the place. Does anyone remember how that 17 year old girl was brutally eliminated by the regime just because she happened to be at a protest march after the fraudulent presidential elections which allowed that detritus of human nature to remain in power?
Charles Grixti
Oct 17th 2010, 14:41
@I Borg
Lowest crimes in the world? Maybe you are forgetting to count the crimes being committed by the Iranian State and Imams against the Iranian people.
What about the legal concept of proportionality, that is the punishment has to be proportional to the crime? Such draconian laws take humanity back to the Dark Ages.
Charles Sammut
Oct 17th 2010, 09:37
@ Andrew Farrugia
You can save yourself the expense of travelling to Iran. Just go to Corradino mosque for similar joys of inter-faith delight.
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20091119/local/whats-wrong-with-chopping-off-thieves-hands-imam-asks
Andrew Farrugia
Oct 17th 2010, 13:07
Just for the record: i have never expressed any conscious or unconscious intention to spend good money (particularly as i happen not to possess oodles of it) to ever visit that brutal, inhuman place. You must have confused me with someone else.
malcolm seychell
Oct 17th 2010, 09:29
This is not good, but suspended sentences are much worse in most scenarios. In europe you rape and abuse minors and you will still be a free man. something in between is the ideal scenario
J.BORG
Oct 17th 2010, 09:07
@P. Alosio
Did I read well....'planning to spend a forthnight's holiday over there for a bit of peace and relaxation away from Malta's hassle and bassle'???? A holiday in Iran for relaxation???
P. Alosio
Oct 16th 2010, 23:11
Gee and there is me planning to spend a forthnight's holiday over there for a bit of peace and relaxation away from Malta's hassle and bassle, maybe i should book up for a civilzed country in the future, it seems that Iran is still governed by savages.
Andrew Farrugia
Oct 16th 2010, 21:55
Maltese viewers should actually see the film about the stoning of a woman accused of adultery which is coming out in Britain soon; they would then be able to witness the brutality of this regime of the ayatollahs and mullahs and the unspeakable delinquent Ahmadinejad. Unfortunately, the so-called peace activists and their apparatchiks remain mum.