Khaleej Times Online >> News >> MIDDLE EAST
2 July 2008
TEHERAN – Iran’s parliament is set to debate a draft bill which could see
the death penalty used for those deemed to promote corruption, prostitution
and apostasy on the Internet, reports said on Wednesday.
MPs on Wednesday voted to discuss as a priority the draft bill which seeks
to “toughen punishment for harming mental security in society,” the ISNA
news agency said.
The text lists a wide range of crimes such rape and armed robbery for which
the death penalty is already applicable. The crime of apostasy (the act of
leaving a religion, in this case Islam) is also already punishable by death.
However, the draft bill also includes “establishing weblogs and sites
promoting corruption, prostitution and apostasy”, which is a new addition to
crimes punishable by death.
Those convicted of these crimes “should be punished as “mohareb’ (enemy of
God) and “corrupt on the earth’,” the text says.
Under Iranian law the standard punishments for these two crimes are
“hanging, amputation of the right hand and then the left foot as well as
exile.”
The bill — which is yet to be debated by lawmakers — also stipulates that
the punishment handed out in these cases “cannot be commuted, suspended or
changed”.
Internet is widely used in Iran despite restrictions on access and the
blocking of thousands of websites with a sexual content or deemed as
insulting religious sanctities and promoting political dissent.
Blogging is also very popular among cyber-savvy young Iranians, some openly
discussing their private lives or criticising the system.
Human rights groups have accused Iran of making excessive use of the death
penalty but Teheran insists it is an effective deterrent that is carried out
only after an exhaustive judicial process.
The number of executions soared last year to 317 amid a campaign which the
authorities said was aimed at improving security in society, and was sharply
up on 2006 figures when Amnesty International recorded 177 executions.
All legislation in Iran has to be rubber-stamped by a conservative clerical
watchdog before it is written into law. The Guardians Council vets bills to
see if they are in line with the constitution and Islamic law.
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The term “corrupt on earth” and “enemy of God” which the Iranian regime uses
in carrying out executions and mass murders of it’s opponents are inspired
from the following Quranic verse:
http://islamawakene <http://islamawakene d.com/Quran/ 5/33/> d.com/Quran/ 5/33/
The punishment of those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger, and
strive with might and main for mischief through the land is: execution, or
crucifixion, or the cutting off of hands and feet from opposite sides, or
exile from the land: that is their disgrace in this world, and a heavy
punishment is theirs in the Hereafter;
The Iranian Islamic regime is a prolific killer of it’s enemies. A few
thousand of it’s victims are listed in this interesting website:
http://www.abfiran. <http://www.abfiran. org/english/ memorial. php>
org/english/ memorial. php
