The Afghan authorities have resumed public lashings for crimes according to Islamic shari’ah.
Yesterday 12 people, including three women and nine men, were flogged on adultery and theft charges at the football stadium in the city of Pul Alam, the capital Logar province.
Each were given between 21 and 39 lashes after an order from the appeals court.
Omar Mansoor Mujahid, an Islamic Emirate spokesman for Logar region in eastern Afghanistan, said that all three women were freed after they were punished. Some of the men were jailed, he said, but it is not clear how many.
The people of Logar province were invited to witness the punishments with “mujahideen, tribal leaders, elderly people, young people and the general public” specifically invited to the Logar sports stadium.
According to sources, hundreds of people gathered in the stadium.
Gul Rahman Akhundzadeh, the head of the Islamic Emirate Appeals Court in Logar, said that he was happy that after 21 years hudood punishments were being issued.
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The flogging in Logar province comes a week after IEA leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada, ordered judges to enforce punishments for certain crimes in line with Islamic Shariah law.
This includes public executions, public amputations and stoning – although exact crimes and corresponding punishments have not been officially defined.
The leader’s order is the latest sign that the IEA is taking a tougher stance on implementing shariah after a more lenient approach during the last year.
Last week, the Islamic Emirate court in Takhar province publicly flogged 19 people, including women.
When the Taliban were in power in the nineties they regularly carried out similar public punishments, despite stern western criticism.
