The supreme leader of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, Mullah Hebatullah Ajundzada, has guaranteed the country’s magistrates total freedom in their decision-making under Islamic law against any interference by local governors, and in the midst of international criticism of the physical punishments they impose.
During an appearance at a seminar in Kandahar province, Ajundzada has assured that the Taliban movement will recognize the independence of the judiciary even if a governor or commander involved in a case appears in court.
The Taliban leader has insisted, in statements collected by the Ariana chain, that the judiciary is superior to the other powers of the State, and that priority will be given to it to the point that it will increase the staff of the Judiciary in the event that it is necessary.
Ajundzada recently ordered Afghan judges to fully apply ‘sharia’ — or Islamic law — against those who commit a series of crimes that could be punished with lashes or even public amputations or stoning for crimes such as theft, kidnapping or sedition.
The Taliban fundamentalist movement, in this sense, has repudiated this weekend the UN’s criticism of their punishments for whipping that they are imposing on the Afghan population; allegations that he has deplored as an “insult to Islam” and the laws that support his use of flogging.
The spokeswoman for the United Nations Office for Human Rights, Ravina Shamdasani, declared this past Friday “dismayed” by the use of lashes as public punishment with cases such as the one that occurred last Wednesday in the province of Logar, where 14 people they were victims of this “abhorrent” penalty.
In response, the Taliban’s regular spokesman and Deputy Information Minister, Zabiullah Mujahid, considered these statements an “insult to Islam and a violation of international principles.”
“Countries and organizations must not allow self-interested people to make irresponsible and provocative comments about Islam and its rules on their behalf,” he tweeted on Saturday.
