Corpun file 16966

Iran Focus, 21 November 2005

Iran sentences three youth to flogging, jail

Tehran, Iran, Nov. 21 -- Three youths were sentenced to flogging, jail time, and being street-paraded, a semi-official daily reported on Monday.

The three young men, identified only as Hamed Z., Mostafa A., and Kamran N., were accused of drinking alcohol, racketing, "creating trouble", and breaking windows, the hard-line daily Kayhan wrote.

Their sentence includes 74 lashes to the back each and six months in prison.

The court also ruled that they should each be street-paraded in various neighbourhoods by police.

The Iranian authorities frequently parade youths, forced to sit backwards on donkeys, in their local neighbourhood so as to embarrass and humiliate them.

Such punishments are often used for petty crimes such as alcohol consumption, disregarding nightly curfews, and disrespect towards security agents.