[IRANNEWSWIRE.ORG] Five members of the Islamic Council in Tehran’s Parand city were sentenced to lashes by the Public and Revolutionary Court of Robat Karim County. They were charged with economic crimes and transferred to the Greater Tehran Penitentiary, according to the state-run Rokna News Agency. "The five people were charged with financial corruption," the Robat Karim Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor, Rahim Alishpour said.
"One of them was sentenced to 18 months of prison, the others were sentenced to five years of prison, as well as fines, lashes and dismissal from governmental service," he added.
The five men were not identified in the report.
The Iranian regime is one of the few states that still uses degrading punishments, even though all international civil and political rights conventions have prohibited the use of inhumane punishments such as execution and flogging.
Flogging is also regularly handed out by the regime to its political opponents including protesters, and dissidents.
In December 2018, an Iranian MP encouraged the use of flogging and execution for "economic offenders".
"If two people are thoroughly flogged and if two people are executed in a timely manner for controlling the market, it will be a lesson for everyone else," Aziz Akbarian said in an interview with the state-run Alborz Radio.
"The law to counter those who disrupt the country’s economic system states that if someone intends to hurt the (ruling) system or has knowledge of such a consequence, their punishment is death," he said.
The Judicial official also said that the Supreme Leader had issued bylaws specifying how the Judiciary was allowed to accelerate the punishment for economic offenses.
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