The Taliban’s Supreme Court has announced that 14 individuals including one woman were publicly flogged in Kabul and Zabul provinces on charges including alcohol and drug trafficking, theft, and so-called “illicit relationships.”
In a statement issued Thursday, the court said the group’s drug control court in Kabul had sentenced seven individuals for trafficking and selling alcohol, hashish. The defendants received between 10 and 39 lashes, along with prison sentences ranging from one to three years.
In a separate announcement, the court reported that seven others including one woman were punished in the Shah Joy district of Zabul province for offences including theft, “illicit sexual relations,” and same-sex relations. Each was publicly flogged with between 20 and 30 lashes.
The punishments were carried out by local Taliban court officials in the presence of residents, military personnel, and court authorities.
Just one day earlier, the Taliban had publicly flogged 10 individuals in Kabul and Maidan Wardak provinces on charges related to theft and drug offences.
Despite repeated condemnation from international human rights organisations, which classify corporal punishment as torture and a violation of international law, the Taliban continue to carry out public floggings. The group maintains that such punishments are in accordance with “Islamic Sharia law.”
