Date: 01/06/1446

Implementation of Discretionary Criminal Punishment Against an Offender in Faryab Province
In accordance with the ruling of the Primary Court of Pashtunkot District, Faryab Province, dated 1/6/1446 Hijri, a discretionary criminal punishment was publicly carried out against an individual convicted of engaging in illicit relations.
The Primary Court had sentenced the offender to three years of imprisonment and 39 lashes as discretionary punishment. This ruling was implemented following its approval by the Supreme Court.
The sentence was executed in the presence of Honorable Mawlawi Ali Gul (Hamidi), Chief Judge of the Faryab Provincial Appellate Court, along with judicial officials, civil and military authorities, and a large number of local residents.
The session concluded with a prayer for well-being following the implementation of the punishment.

The public flogging and imprisonment of an individual in Faryab Province illustrates the continued use of discretionary corporal punishment by Taliban authorities as a tool of moral regulation and social control. The execution of 39 lashes alongside a lengthy prison sentence, carried out publicly at court premises and attended by senior judicial, civil, and military officials, reinforces the performative nature of punishment and its role in disciplining the wider community. The conviction for “engaging in illicit relations” relies on vague moral offenses that intrude into private life and allow broad criminalization of personal relationships. Implemented through judicial processes that lack independence and meaningful safeguards, the punishment functions as an arbitrary and coercive practice that undermines personal autonomy, liberty, and dignity, while normalizing physical violence as an accepted instrument of governance.