Eye for an eye: Iranian regime orders waiter blinded

Iran’s supreme court upheld a sentence to be borne by the 26-year-old waiter, identified by his first name, Mohammad, Shargh newspaper reported Monday.

Mohammad had confessed he was hired to throw acid at the victim, Vali, in return for around one million rials (less than £64), the report said.

Vali, who was injured and blinded in one eye, asked for “qesas” – an eye for an eye style of justice – and that Mohammad be blinded in retribution.

After much deliberation, the panel of judges presiding the case ordered the attacker to be blinded without acid in one eye and pay blood money for Vali’s other injuries, the report said.

The Islamic shariah code in force in Iran provides for retributive justice, most commonly for murder or for those convicted of causing intentional physical injury.

Several acid attacks have been reported in Iran in recent years, with the courts handing two attackers who had blinded their victims the “qesas” sentence last year.

The latest verdict comes nearly two months after a female victim of an acid attack, Ameneh Bahrami, forgave her assailant at the 11th-hour after years of pushing for his “qesas”.

In December 2010, the supreme court upheld another sentence to blinding handed down against a man convicted of an acid attack against his wife’s lover that deprived him of his sight.

There has been no reported confirmation of it ever being carried out.

Amnesty International had criticised the sentencing in Bahrami’s case, saying it highlighted the need for legal reforms in Iran as the “cruel punishment which amounts to torture (is) prohibited under international law.”

Source: freedomessenger