Man to be blinded by having acid poured into his eyes after committing crime in Iran

Iran is set to completely blind a man by pouring acid into his eyes in "retribution justice" as a punishment for a crime he committed in 2009.

Mojtaba Saheli, 31, was sentenced to 10 years in prison after he blinded a taxi driver with acid. As well as being blinded himself in punishment, Saheli has been ordered to pay blood money to his victim. Amnesty International described the punishment as "unspeakable cruel".

Saheli was blinded with acid in his left eye on 3 March 2015, and will have the remainder of the qisas (retribution) justice carried out next week in Gohardasht (Rajai-Shahr) Prison in Karaj, north-west of Tehran.

"Punishing someone by deliberately blinding them is an unspeakably cruel and shocking act," Raha Bahreini, Amnesty International's Iran researcher, said in a statement after Salehi was blinded in one eye.

"This punishment exposes the utter brutality of Iran's justice system and underlines the Iranian authorities' shocking disregard for basic humanity. Meting out cruel and inhuman retribution punishments is not justice.

"Blinding, like stoning, amputation and flogging, is a form of corporal punishment prohibited by international law. Such punishments should not be carried out under any circumstances."

Salehi has reportedly been told he may avoid becoming completely blind if he pays additional blood money, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) said, although it is unclear if Salehi will be able to find the funds needed to buy his way out of blindness.

Dr Sanabargh Zahedi, chairman of the Judicial Committee of the NCRI, said: "The inhumane law of retribution (qisas) has been implemented against the Iranian people for the past 37 years. These punishments date back to the medieval ages and show the clerical regime's reactionary nature.

"These inhuman punishments are clear violations of all principles and norms of a modern judiciary, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and all civil and political covenants. Such punishments undoubtedly constitute a savage form of torture and should be condemned by any freedom-seeking person. The Iranian Resistance and NCRI members have since 1980 condemned the regime's qisas law as anti-human."