An Iranian court sentenced a man to 10 months in prison and 40 lashes for stealing three packs of cashews, Fars news agency reported Monday.
The conservative news agency described the verdict as surprising and pointed to the “disproportion between the sentence and the crime committed.”
It called on the judiciary to “explain or correct” the ruling against the 45-year-old father of three.
The judiciary’s Mizan Online agency announced the formation of a “special commission” in Qom province to study the issue of the “proportionality of the offense.”
It did not specify where the trial took place.
Get The Times of Israel's Daily Edition
by email and never miss our top stories
By signing up, you agree to the
terms
The commission “will try to use all legal abilities to reduce the sentence,” Mizan Online said.
It added that the offender had “been sentenced to one year in prison for theft in 2019, but his sentence had been suspended due to the return of the stolen goods.”
The latest ruling drew ridicule on social media, with many drawing a comparison with the classic Victor Hugo novel “Les Miserables.”
“Nearly 160 years after the publication of Les Miserables… the Jean Valjeans continue to be condemned,” one user wrote, referring to the ex-convict depicted in the book.
Fars explained that the sentence was final because it was not appealed. It did not disclose the name or location of the convicted man.
We can't do this work alone.
The war with Iran has been draining for all of us in Israel. But when I heard about a high casualty incident – ballistic missile impacts in Arad and Dimona that left nearly 200 people wounded – I drank a cup of coffee, packed a bag, and headed south.
There, I spoke with Shilgit, the head of an after-school program for underprivileged youth. Standing outside her destroyed center, Shilgit said it was a miracle that no children were hurt and spoke about the community coming together in the hours since.
As a Times of Israel reporter, I’m committed to telling stories of resilience like Shilgit’s. But my colleagues and I can't do this alone. If you value work like this, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to keep real human reporting like this going.
— Stav Levaton, military reporter
Yes, I'll join
Yes, I'll join
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
You're a dedicated reader
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you,
David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
Join Our Community
Join Our Community
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
