People Hate Being Laughed At
Omid Sheikhan has been sentenced by the Iranian court to one year in prison and 124 lashes.
Omid was first arrested last year, confined for two months, including one in solitary confinement, and tortured, due to his blog which featured satire on the Iranian situation.
When he was brought to court on October 8 he faced different charges, due to the fact that even in the Iran judicial system it would have been difficult to convict him on charges relating to his blog. Instead, he faced, and was convicted on, charges stemming from “morals” violations, including “having unlawful relations, drinking wine, corruption of morals (for having a birthday party) and possessing satirical pictures of Iranian politicians.”
The Iranian leadership hates being laughed at. But most people can’t have you whipped for laughing at them. Have a cartoon.
Apparently, posting that cartoon could get you 124 lashes in Iran. There’s a petition to have charges dropped. Please sign it. The Committee To Protect Bloggers has more.