RASC News Agency: The Taliban’s Supreme Court has announced that, continuing their punitive actions, the group recently punished two individuals in Kabul for alleged extramarital relations. According to a statement released by the Taliban court on Monday, August 5th, these two individuals were subjected to 39 lashes and sentenced to one and a half years of imprisonment.
The statement from the Taliban mentioned that the punishment was carried out by the Primary Court of Kabul’s Fourth District after being approved by the group’s Supreme Court. Despite widespread criticism of corporal punishment under Taliban rule, the group continues to publicly punish accused individuals and has executed several others. In the latest instance of public punishment, the Taliban recently punished nine individuals in Khost province for various charges.
It is worth noting that the Taliban do not allow journalists and media to photograph, record videos, or conduct interviews at the sites of these punishments. The Taliban have a history of publicly administering corporal punishment to the accused, defending it as a religious practice, despite many Islamic scholars deeming it contrary to Sharia law. During their rule in the late 1990s, under the orders of Mullah Omar, their first leader, the Taliban implemented court rulings based on the Islamic laws of “Hudud and Qisas.”
During the Doha peace negotiations with the United States, the Taliban claimed they were committed to civil and women’s rights and that their views had evolved compared to their first period of rule. However, reports indicate that the Taliban are becoming increasingly extremist and intend to impose their harsh laws on citizens under the guise of “Islamic Sharia.”
