By Alirza Quluncu, Voice of America, June 2, 2016
The UN has called on Iranian officials to end the inhumane practice of flogging.
In the past week, a court document has been released showing that 26 Turkish activists in East Azerbaijan have been sentenced to imprisonment, fines, and flogging by Iranian courts, following the flogging of 17 miners in West Azerbaijan and 35 girls and boys arrested at a gathering in Qazvin.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) condemned the flogging sentences in Qazvin and West Azerbaijan in a statement issued on May 31. The statement emphasized that flogging is prohibited under international human rights law and called on Iranian authorities to end this "cruel, inhumane, and degrading" punishment.
The HRA agency published a copy of a ruling by the Iranian Penal Court the day after the UN statement, which showed that Turkish activists and football fans participating in "anti-racism" protests in Tabriz had been sentenced to flogging.
The document, signed by Judge Mohammad Ali Piri, stated that 26 activists were charged with "disturbing public order and peace by shouting and causing noise."
The HRA reported that those sentenced were Turkish activists and football fans who had participated in mass protests in November 2015, which erupted after the Iranian state television aired an episode of a children's program called "Fitile" that insulted Turks.
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| The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights emphasized that flogging is prohibited under international human rights law and called on Iranian officials to end the application of this "cruel, inhumane, and degrading" punishment. |
According to the ruling, Mehdi Shirzad, Hadi Huseynzadeh, Farzad Heydari, Ali Rashidi, Majid Nagizadeh, Majid Mohammadi Mollalar, Amir Mohammadi, Shahin Shirnijad, Hasan Jamali, Milad Purmohammadi, Ismail Dehqani, and Karim Huseynzadeh were sentenced to one year in prison and 74 lashes.
The document also indicates that the sentences for imprisonment and flogging were issued in absentia.
Other defendants, being young and showing remorse, and having no prior criminal record, had their sentences of imprisonment and flogging converted to fines.
Amir Siraj Rzayi, Mammadbagir Herirchi, Ahad Ibrahimpur, Majid Jafarzadeh, Mir Mohammad Babayi, Farzad Nasiri, Siyamak Makhmuri, Javad Sultani, Yaver Sultani, Hasan Ibrahimpur, Oruc Dehqani, Meysam Khalafi Zangi, Mohsen Heydarzadeh, and Cahanbakhsh Sultanzadeh were fined.
The protests that broke out in Iranian Azerbaijan and Tehran in response to the "Fitilə" program, which aired on Iranian state television in November, saw many citizens and activists subjected to police violence and arrested.
In March, another group of 23 young women and men who participated in those protests were sentenced by the same judge to 74 lashes and one year in prison.
Link to the original text in Turkish on the Azerbaijani section of Voice of America:
Təbrizdə 26 türk fəala həbs, pul və şallaq cəzası