RASC News Agency: Local sources in Badakhshan province have informed the media that the Taliban publicly flogged four individuals accused of crimes. The Taliban’s Supreme Court announced today, Tuesday, May 7, in a statement, that it executed the punishment of flogging four individuals charged with “selling alcohol and psychoactive drugs.”
According to the statement from the Taliban’s Supreme Court, the punishment was carried out based on the decision of the Public Security Court of the Taliban’s appellate tribunal in Badakhshan on the previous day. The statement specifies the sentences: one individual received one year of imprisonment and 35 lashes, two others were sentenced to 30 lashes each, and the fourth person was sentenced to 39 lashes.
Witnesses present at the Taliban’s ad-hoc court noted that high-ranking Taliban officials in Badakhshan province, along with local residents, attended the punishment’s execution. Reports indicate that the Taliban conducts trials and floggings publicly, following its self-devised legal system without the presence of defense lawyers or human rights advocates.
After the Taliban leader’s order to enforce “Islamic law and retribution,” the group has publicly flogged dozens of individuals for various charges. The Taliban have prohibited the production, consumption, and sale of all narcotics in Afghanistan, although the group previously earned more than half its income from these activities.
Local sources in Panjshir province have previously reported similar makeshift trials of several individuals conducted by the Taliban.
