Category: Society and people’s livelihood; gt; Law
Analysis:
Nine times of public flogging
Iran’s reformist President Khattab Iran had just started its second term when the conservative-controlled judiciary launched an unprecedented campaign to punish "immorality" and publicly flogged young people guilty of "immorality". This caused a great stir in Iran. The shock also caused people to worry about the prospects of Khatami's reform policies.
On August 19, Iran began a nationwide campaign to punish “Westernized” and “immoral” young people. In the capital Tehran, 13 young men were dragged to a square in the city center by the police for "violating public order" such as drinking alcohol and walking with strange women, stripped off their shirts, and were whipped in full view of the public. Hundreds of citizens watched the public flogging. Everyone looked disappointed, and some women sobbed softly. Some witnesses said they saw bright red blood flowing from the young men's bare backs, and many couldn't bear to watch any more. The execution took place in the evening, and the flogging site was located on the north-south traffic artery of Tehran, which caused a serious traffic jam.
This is not the first public flogging. Since Khatami was re-elected as president of Iran in June this year, Tehran has carried out nine public floggings, most of them after President Khatami was sworn in on August 8. Conservative Justice Director Ayatollah Hashemi Shahrodi said everyone should be sensitive to the development of "corruption" in Iranian society and resolutely fight against "the enemy's plot to corrupt our young generation."
No tie is allowed when wearing a suit
According to Shahrodi's order, the disciplinary police responsible for "maintaining political order" began to launch attacks across Iran on August 19. activities to eradicate "corruption" by spreading "rotten Western culture" in Iranian society. Disciplinary police ordered shop owners to remove models wearing only underwear from shop windows, banned cafes and restaurants from playing Western pop music, and asked cafe and restaurant owners not to serve women who wore heavy make-up or did not abide by the rules of civil decency. Advertisements selling famous Western music and movie stars are not allowed, and even the sale of pets such as cats, dogs, and monkeys is prohibited because these animals are dirty according to Christian teachings. In the holy city of Qom in central Iran, men can still wear suits, but bow ties are considered a sign of decadent Western culture and are banned. All those who violate the regulations will be punished by caning.
In fact, whipping has existed since ancient times. Looking at world history, we can see that whipping was used by different countries in different periods, including the ancient Jews, Egyptians, Persians and Romans. This kind of punishment is more popular in Japanese countries. It is mainly used to punish those who ignore the laws of Japan and "immoral" people. According to the regulations of Shia Islam, drunkards will be punished with 80 lashes, and those with other "immoral behaviors" such as disheveled clothes, heavy makeup, extramarital affairs, etc. will be punished with different numbers of lashes according to different circumstances. Those who are punished may have their skin and flesh bruised at the least, or may die in hell if they are punished.
Reformists have strong opinions
In Iran, although flogging is legal and very severe, in recent years, with President Khatami’s open policy, the younger generation of Iran The lifestyle of women is quietly changing: Although *** religious regulations stipulate that women cannot reveal any part of themselves that can show their beauty in front of outsiders, more women are now quietly revealing a lock of hair, and the color of the headscarf is no longer just Black is becoming more and more gorgeous; rouge and lipstick have become popular, and nail polish of various colors is very popular; women's traditional clothing - robes are also changing, and young women prefer new styles similar to windbreakers, and they try to tighten their waists as much as possible; jeans are more It is popular, even though only a short section of trousers can be exposed under the robe; the shops in Tehran are filled with brightly colored and novel women's fashions, and there is an endless stream of customers; in the parks and on the streets, young people like it more Men and women wandered in pairs; every weekend, some young men and women would take their cassette recorders and go hiking in the mountains, playing music while talking to each other, and finding a place without control where they could dance happily. However, some of the ugly phenomena that followed have also caused headaches for brothels. Iran has recently discovered that there are more and more prostitutes. At the beginning of this year, Tehran police destroyed more than 200 brothels in one operation.
Faced with this situation, Iran's conservative bureaucrats could not sit still. They exclaimed that strict measures must be taken to protect the purity of the *** world and prevent Western "corruption" behaviors from spreading in Iran. Put an end to all "corruption" phenomena. However, the public flogging measure advocated by conservatives was criticized by reformers. Reformists believe that this public flogging punishment will not only undermine the reform process started by President Khatami in 1997, but will also seriously damage Iran's image in the international community. President Khatami himself also warned that such harsh punishments would not only fail to eradicate corruption, but would also bring about a series of serious consequences. ▲