Public executions were common during the Taliban’s first rule from 1996 to 2001. (file)
Ghazni, Afghanistan:
Taliban authorities publicly executed two men convicted of murder at a football stadium in eastern Afghanistan on Thursday, according to an AFP reporter at the scene.
Two men were arrested in Ghazni city after Supreme Court official Atiqullah Darwish read aloud the death warrant signed by Taliban supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada. Gun execution.
“The two men were found guilty of murder… and the order has been signed after a two-year trial in the country’s courts,” Darwish said.
Thousands of men gathered in the stadium to witness the execution.
Family members of the convicted man’s victims were present and asked if they would be willing to grant the convicted man a reprieve at the last minute, but they declined in both cases.
The Taliban government in Kabul has not been formally recognized by any other government since taking power in 2021 and imposing a harsh interpretation of Islam.
Akhunzada ordered judges to fully enforce all aspects of Islamic law in 2022, including the “eye for an eye” punishment known as “qisas.”
Islamic law (Sharia) is the code of life for Muslims around the world, providing guidance on matters such as modesty, finance and crime.
However, interpretations vary depending on local customs, culture, and religious schools of thought.
Taliban scholars in Afghanistan have adopted one of the most extreme interpretations of the code, including the death penalty and corporal punishment rarely used in most modern Muslim countries.
– often whipped –
Under the previous foreign-backed government, hundreds of millions of dollars were spent building a new judicial system that combined Islamic and secular law with qualified prosecutors, defense lawyers and judges.
However, many Afghans complain about corruption, bribery and slow access to justice.
Public executions were common during the Taliban’s first rule from 1996 to 2001.
Thursday’s executions are believed to be the third and fourth carried out by Taliban authorities since they returned to power.
The first two were also found guilty of murder.
However, other crimes, including theft, adultery, and drunkenness, were also frequently punished with public whippings.
The last execution was in June 2023, when a convicted murderer was shot dead on the grounds of a mosque in Laghman province in the presence of about 2,000 people.
In response, many governments, international organizations and aid agencies cut off or drastically reduced financial aid to Afghanistan, dealing a severe blow to an already struggling economy.
The Taliban government also bans girls and women from high schools and universities, bans them from parks, playgrounds and gyms, and orders them to cover up in public.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
