Iran has been condemned for "unspeakable cruelty" after a man was forcibly blinded in his left eye this week on the grounds of legal retribution for an acid attack he had carried out in 2009.
International rights group Amnesty International today condemned the "grotesque" punishment overseen by Iranian authorities on Tuesday under the principle of "qisas" – an eye for an eye – at a prison in Karaj, west of Tehran.
The man had been convicted of throwing acid in another man's face in 2009, leading to a 10-year prison sentence, an order to pay blood money to the victim and the act of retribution.
Medics gouged out his left eye after he was rendered unconscious in Rajai-Shahr prison, the Guardian reported.
"Punishing someone by deliberately blinding them is an unspeakably cruel and shocking act," said Raha Bahreini, Amnesty's Iran researcher, in a statement.
"This punishment exposes the utter barbarity of Iran's justice system and underlines the Iranian authorities' shocking disregard for basic humanity." » | Andrew Marszal, and agencies | Friday, March 06, 2015
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