An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind - Mahatma Gandhi
--- In [email protected], "sunny" <ambon@...> wrote: > > http://www.theage.com.au/world/eye-for-an-eye-acid-punishment-postponed-after-outcry-20110516-1ep5l.html > > 'Eye for an eye' acid punishment postponed after outcry > Glenda Kwek > May 16, 2011 - 1:56PM > Click to play video > Iran blinding sentence postponed > Iran postpones blinding a convicted man in retribution for throwing acid in > the face of a woman after she spurned his offers of marriage > > a.. Video feedback > b.. Video settings > The court-ordered blinding of an Iranian man as punishment for throwing acid > on a woman who spurned him has been postponed, but heated debate over his > crime and such "eye for an eye" punishments continues. > > Majid Movahedi was due to be made unconscious in a prison hospital in Tehran > on Saturday and acid was to be dropped into his eyes by his victim, Ameneh > Bahrami. > > Ms Bahrami, a engineer, was blinded and severely disfigured after Movahedi > threw a bucket of acid in her face in 2004 for rejecting his marriage > proposals. Movahedi was 21 when he assaulted her. > > Advertisement: Story continues below > But Movahedi received an 11th-hour reprieve on Friday night, the Iranian news > agency ISNA reported. > > While Iranian authorities did not say why the sentence was not carried out, > the country had been under international pressure to stop it from going ahead. > > Groups such as Amnesty International argued that the sentence was "a cruel > and inhuman punishment amounting to torture". > > But others in Iran feared that "forgiveness", the other legal choice open to > Ms Bahrami, would only encourage similar crimes. > > "There's no doubt public opinion inside Iran has been stirred up," Iranian > women's rights activist Asieh Amini told Time magazine. > > "There's been a huge outpouring of sympathy for both of them, and this puts > pressure on the government." > > Ms Bahrami herself pushed for qesas - a form of retributive justice under > Sharia law. > > "I've suffered so much in these years but now I am really happy," the 7sobh > daily reported her on Saturday as saying, Agence France-Presse reported. > > "The verdict is completely legal and I would like to carry it out. But if it > is not possible, then the physician designated by the judiciary will do it." > > She also told BBC Persian television on Saturday: "I want people like him to > know that they will suffer forever if they cause someone such suffering. > > "I want him to be punished foremost. But if there are human rights > considerations, then I'll accept ?2 million and his life imprisonment," Time > magazine quoted her as saying. > > Iranian-American journalist Azadeh Moaveni wrote in Time that the young > woman's case was a "unique dilemma" for Iranian authorities. > > "Unlike many human rights cases which excite opinion primarily in the West, > it has resonated deeply throughout Iranian society; the attention inside Iran > raises the prospect of a public backlash at a time when the regime is deeply > divided by political infighting." > > Dr Jan Ali, a sociologist in Islam at the University of Western Sydney's > School of Humanities and Languages, said the crime was a reflection of the > unequal relationship between Iranian men and women. > > "There seems to be an attitude among the men in Iran where women are seen as > subordinate to men. > > "What this highlights is that ... the man saw himself as a masculine male who > can treat anyone [in any way]. Unfortunately in this case it happened to be a > woman and he expressed a misogynist attitude towards a particular woman. > > "Given the history of Iranian society where males have been dominant, I don't > see it changing any time soon." > > Amini said the legal options of either qesas or "forgiveness" placed Ms > Bahrami in a tight spot. > > "Bahrami must sit in the place of the judge and either forgive her attacker > or take revenge. The legal system pushes her into a dead end, and it's really > the law that's deficient here." > > Ms Bahrami, who was 26 at the time of the attack, was not told of the > postponement and found out about the change only from journalists, the BBC > reported. > > She travelled to Iran from Spain, where she had undergone 17 operations > following the attacks, The Guardian reported. > > "I couldn't believe it," she told the BBC after being informed of the > postponement. "I think human rights activists are trying to stop me from > carrying out the sentence." > > It would have been the first time such a sentence was carried out in Iran, > AFP reported, quoting 7sobh. > > In December, an Iranian court ruled that a man was to lose an eye and an ear > after he blinded another man and burnt his ear in an acid attack. > > The month before, the Iranian Supreme Court upheld a ruling that ordered a > man undergo the same "eye for an eye" punishment, after he blinded his > lover's husband by throwing acid in his face. > > Neither sentence is known to have been carried out. > > In Saudi Arabia in August, a man was sentenced to have his spinal cord > severed after he paralysed another man by attacking him with a cleaver. > > But doctors charged with carrying out the medical procedure refused to > operate on the man, saying "inflicting such harm is not possible". > > The last known case where the "an eye for an eye" punishment was carried out > was 11 years ago in Saudi Arabia, when an Egyptian had an eye surgically > removed for disfiguring another man in an acid attack, the Daily Mail > reported. > > Follow this reporter on Twitter @curious_scribe > > > Read more: > http://www.theage.com.au/world/eye-for-an-eye-acid-punishment-postponed-after-outcry-20110516-1ep5l.html#ixzz1MXMl3T8s > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > ------------------------------------ Post message: [email protected] Subscribe : [email protected] Unsubscribe : [email protected] List owner : [email protected] Homepage : http://proletar.8m.com/Yahoo! 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