Neck of the woods

“Amnesty International todayurged Iran to stop death sentences against two men, whom the Iranian authorities have not named,convicted for the third time of consuming alcohol. The men already have received 80 lashes for two previous convictions. Seyed Hassan Shariati, head of the judiciary in northeastern KhorasanRazavi province, announced that authorities were preparing to carry out the death sentences upheld by the Supreme Court in Tehran. Article 179 of Iran’s Penal Code provides for a mandatory death sentence following a third conviction for drinking alcohol…………..”

It looks like these three men need treatment, if anything, not execution. They probably need to enter a clinic rather than death row; they need the Iranian equivalent of Schick Shadel or the Betty Ford Clinic. This is a ridiculously harsh and inhumane punishment for a victimless ‘crime’. The mullahs, like most other countries in our region, are too fast with judicial murder. The Muslim faith has never stipulated death for drinking alcohol, as far as I know. (FYI: I am no expert, no more than any mufti or shaikh).
The death penalty itself should be completely banned everywhere. Even in the capitals of capital punishment: Iran and Saudi Arabia and China and the USA, even in Texas.
Someone (not me of course) might add that, on the upside, Texas may decide to secede if capital punishment is ended in the United States.
Cheers
mhg
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