Wednesday, January 09, 2008

Iran: Criminals Lose Hands And Feet As Shari'a Law Imposed

Contrary to the soothing Islamic apologists in the West who claim that Sharia does not mandate these punishments, whenever Sharia is strictly imposed, they turn up again. A report by Bruce Pannier for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (thanks to tanstaafl): Five convicted criminals in southeastern Iran have received the seldom-used form of punishment of amputation.

The amputation sentences were carried out in Zahedan, the capital of Iran's southeastern Sistan-Baluchistan Province. The five men were found guilty of armed robbery, hostage taking, and firing at police, though officially they were convicted of "acting against God" and "corruption upon this Earth."

"The only reward of those who make war upon Allah and His messenger and strive after corruption in the land will be that they will be killed or crucified, or have their hands and feet on alternate sides cut off, or will be expelled out of the land. Such will be their degradation in the world, and in the Hereafter theirs will be an awful doom." -- Qur'an 5:33

Amputation as a punishment is legal in Iran, but there have been no reports of it being used for several years. It is unknown if the meting out of such a punishment now is a new trend or if this was an isolated incident in only one region of the country.

Cross Amputation

With doctors watching, the convicted men's right hands and left feet were amputated. Traditionally, the right hand is amputated for a first serious offense and the left foot for a second serious offense. The right hand-left foot amputation is referred to as "cross amputation."

The Iranian Student News Agency (ISNA) reported the amputations on January 6, though it is not clear when the sentences were carried out or if the amputations were done in prison or in public..

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