KABUL: Taliban on Thursday publicly flogged nine individuals in Afghanistan’s Khost province on charges of theft, forgery, adultery, bribery and sales of alcohol.
According to a statement from the Supreme Court of Afghanistan, two individuals got 39 lashes and were sentenced to 18 months of imprisonment while another received 39 lashes and a three-year jail term.
Moreover, one individual was flogged 35 times and sentenced to one year in jail, while two others received 39 lashes each along with one-year sentences.
The statement said another was lashed 39 times and sentenced to two years in prison, and one received 35 lashes and a six-month jail sentence. The ninth individual was flogged 39 times.
In less than three years after taking power, Taliban has continued public floggings across the country. In two weeks early in July, they publicly flogged over 40 people.
International bodies and Human rights organizations including the United Nations, have repeatedly condemned the Taliban’s methods of punishment. They have highlighted the lack of legal process and disregard for legal rights in these proceedings.
The U.S. State Department, in its annual report on human rights in Afghanistan, termed the punishment methods of Taliban as “unethical” and called for their immediate cessation.
