Corpun file 23689

BBC News Online, London, 1 June 2011

South Asia

Afghan judge whips man for drinking alcohol

Public lashings are rarely implemented by the Afghan authorities

The BBC Afghan service has acquired recently-shot video evidence of a man being publicly whipped by a judge as a punishment for drinking alcohol.

The lashing was carried out inside a courtroom in Jalalabad, the capital of Nangarhar Province in eastern Afghanistan.

Such punishments are legal under the Afghan constitution but are rarely implemented.

The Afghan human rights commission has expressed concern about the incident.

It is not clear when exactly the lashing happened, but it is believed to have been last week.

Correspondents say that most punishments of this nature are carried out by the Taliban.

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In January the authorities pledged to bring to justice a group of men who stoned a couple to death in north Afghanistan after footage of their killings came to light.

The man and woman were accused of adultery in the district of Dashte Archi in Kunduz province - an area still under Taliban control - last August.

Hundreds of people attended the stoning, but no-one has yet been charged over the incident.

BBC © 2011