Iranian cartoonist to receive 25 lashes for this drawing
Mahmoud Shokraiyeh has been sentenced to 25 lashes for drawing a picture of a member of parliament wearing a football shirt and holding a congratulatory diploma in one hand.
This was decided by the Provincial Press Court, presided over by Judge Edalatkhah, who handed down the sentence.
Ahmad Lotfi Ashtiani, MP for Arak, was angered by this drawing published in Nameye Amir, a newspaper in the city of Arak.
Some politicians in Iran, including Ashtiani, have reportedly been criticised for interfering in the country's sport.
In the cartoon, the MP is shown with a dark mark on his forehead, caused (allegedly) by resting his head for a prolonged period of time for prayer, a mark which the politician also has in reality.
That's the way they do it in Iran. Chapter 27 of the "Islamic Penal Code of Iran," states that anyone who unfairly defames or insults someone through print media can be punished by 74 lashes and one month to one year in prison.
Other cartoonists in Iran have shown solidarity with Shokraiyeh by drawing caricatures of the politician, see Daryl Cagle's blog, along with the opinion of Nikahang Kowsar, an Iranian cartoonist now living in Washington DC who was sentenced to jail in absentia in 2005 by Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi for drawing him caricatured as a crocodile.
Source: The Guardian
