# An eye for an eye \[Punishment in Iran\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [May 14, 2011, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-eye-for-an-eye-punishment-in-iran/581884 "2011-05-14T06:23:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2011, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-eye-for-an-eye-punishment-in-iran/581884/61 "2011-05-15T06:16:10Z")
What a profoundly depressing thread. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2011, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-eye-for-an-eye-punishment-in-iran/581884/62 "2011-05-15T07:09:22Z")
> [@G-SE](#): > > I am stunned that your alternative is to have someone convicted of an acid attack be left in charge of feeding, clothing & bathing people and taking care of their children. > > I supposed child molestors have to do community service as babysitters, and bank robbers must be bank tellers. Is that what a “civilized” society does? Where on earth do you get that from? that is not my alternative at all. I was quite clear, I suggest that criminals are jailed and should compensate their victims. That is what a civilised society does. It certainly shouldn’t kill and maim people. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2011, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-eye-for-an-eye-punishment-in-iran/581884/63 "2011-05-15T07:19:41Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > I am agnostic and I love good revenge just like most people do and I am not afraid to admit it. Regardless or any grand philosophical reasons, I find it brings some immediate symmetry to existence and also some entertainment. Those are good enough reasons for me. I don’t think humans have any special place in nature. I would just put him to death personally like we would an aggressive dog if it was up to me but blinding is a good compromise if it might help spread a message throughout the warren. But humans do have a special place in nature. We are the ones able to transcend our animalistic tendencies. You really don’t want to regress down that path. Would you be wiling to accept rape and infanticide because they are perfectly sensible evolutionary tactics? Or would you apply “special” human considerations instead? ---
**Author:** ![Farmer\_Jane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Farmer\_Jane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farmer_Jane)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2011, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-eye-for-an-eye-punishment-in-iran/581884/64 "2011-05-15T07:59:46Z")
Fuck human rights groups for asking a victim to pardon her attacker. :rolleyes: It’s not her job. ---
**Author:** ![Farmer\_Jane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Farmer\_Jane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farmer_Jane)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2011, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-eye-for-an-eye-punishment-in-iran/581884/65 "2011-05-15T08:01:06Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > Where on earth do you get that from? that is not my alternative at all. > > I was quite clear, I suggest that criminals are jailed and should compensate their victims. > That is what a civilised society does. It certainly shouldn’t kill and maim people. Arguably it’s still better than her getting stoned to death! :smack: (I don’t agree with this idea. But if I had the choice, I would probably do it. It’s just not up to a victim to pardon. A victim cannot issue a pardon. A victim is not the judge.) ---
**Author:** ![Farmer\_Jane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Farmer\_Jane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farmer_Jane)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2011, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-eye-for-an-eye-punishment-in-iran/581884/66 "2011-05-15T08:06:33Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > Actually it is claimed that in the interview she gave that she said she’d have to **pay an extra fee** of 20,000 Euros for the priviledge of blinding him in both eyes, rather than just one. Which perhaps she did, as every single news agency is claiming it will be both eyes. I’m rather curious what Iranian law actually says on this topic, but can’t immediately find anything on the web. I read she was offered $20k in restitution and she said she’d rather blind him. So they gave her one eye and an unconscious dude. Seriously. The whole world is watching. She _has_ to. If not, it will make women in Iran even weaker. ---
**Author:** ![Lantern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d26b3c/32.png) [@Lantern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lantern)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2011, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-eye-for-an-eye-punishment-in-iran/581884/67 "2011-05-15T08:14:45Z")
Count me as someone who finds this utterly barbaric. The man deserves a long spell in jail, not some form of mutilation. The prohibition of “cruel and unusual punishment” is one of the great achievements of human civilization. All countries should adopt this principle. ---
**Author:** ![Rune](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e68b1a/32.png) [@Rune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rune)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2011, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-eye-for-an-eye-punishment-in-iran/581884/68 "2011-05-15T08:16:18Z")
The sentencing has been postponed after what is supposed to have been an “[international outcry](http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/may/14/acid-blinding-postponed-iran-outcry).” I wonder how they decide what makes an “international outcry.” I suspect the outcry has been restricted to the professional elites of various international NGOs who already are living in a different world, whereas most of the general international public thinks the bastard has it coming. ---
**Author:** ![Farmer\_Jane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Farmer\_Jane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farmer_Jane)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2011, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-eye-for-an-eye-punishment-in-iran/581884/69 "2011-05-15T08:23:10Z")
> [@Lantern](#): > > Count me as someone who finds this utterly barbaric. The man deserves a long spell in jail, not some form of mutilation. The prohibition of “cruel and unusual punishment” is one of the great achievements of human civilization. All countries should adopt this principle. She is not barbaric. She is human. The judicial process is the fucked up part. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2011, 8:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-eye-for-an-eye-punishment-in-iran/581884/70 "2011-05-15T08:27:20Z")
> [@Rune](#): > > The sentencing has been postponed after what is supposed to have been an “[international outcry](http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/may/14/acid-blinding-postponed-iran-outcry).” I wonder how they decide what makes an “international outcry.” I suspect the outcry has been restricted to the professional elites of various international NGOs who already are living in a different world, whereas most of the general international public thinks the bastard has it coming. [Wiliam Munny] “we’ve all got it comin’” [/William Munny] And look where it got him, not a great advert for this sort of vengence-based justice is it? ---
**Author:** ![Cort](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/77aa72/32.png) [@Cort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cort)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2011, 8:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-eye-for-an-eye-punishment-in-iran/581884/71 "2011-05-15T08:38:40Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > Where on earth do you get that from? that is not my alternative at all. > > I was quite clear, I suggest that criminals are jailed and should compensate their victims. > That is what a civilised society does. It certainly shouldn’t kill and maim people. I think **G-SE** is confusing you with **WhyNot** who advocated a sort of community service type punishment in post 23. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2011, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-eye-for-an-eye-punishment-in-iran/581884/72 "2011-05-15T12:15:32Z")
> [@CitizenPained](#): > > Fuck human rights groups for asking a victim to pardon her attacker. :rolleyes: It’s not her job. Seconded. Essentially they, and the Iranian judiciary, are putting the whole burden of sorting out this mess on the victim. But wanting revenge is absolutely what I’d expect given the circumstances. It should now be up to the iranian government and judicary to work out what should happen next, with whatever lobbying from NGOs etc. ---
**Author:** ![Lantern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d26b3c/32.png) [@Lantern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lantern)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2011, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-eye-for-an-eye-punishment-in-iran/581884/73 "2011-05-15T12:49:27Z")
> [@CitizenPained](#): > > She is not barbaric. She is human. The judicial process is the fucked up part. I agree. It’s the Iranian justice system which is barbaric. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2011, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-eye-for-an-eye-punishment-in-iran/581884/74 "2011-05-15T13:30:07Z")
> [@CitizenPained](#): > > I read she was offered $20k in restitution and she said she’d rather blind him. So they gave her one eye and an unconscious dude. No, he was apparently fined 19,000 pounds ( I assume the equivalent of ) and she said she “didn’t want the money.” I see no indication that it was an either/or situation. Every single news report has said it was/will be BOTH eyes. She claimed in an interview back in **2009** that it was one eye + one if she was willing to pay an extra fee, which I find exceedingly strange in concept ( not impossible, just weird ). I wonder if the whole thing has become jumbled up in translation and she was offered money + one eye or the option of taking both his eyes with no monetary compensation and went for door #2. That what still be a strange bit of jurisprudence, but ever-so-slightly less so. ---
**Author:** ![Testy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c37758/32.png) [@Testy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Testy)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2011, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-eye-for-an-eye-punishment-in-iran/581884/75 "2011-05-15T13:39:27Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > No, he was apparently fined 19,000 pounds ( I assume the equivalent of ) and she said she “didn’t want the money.” I see no indication that it was an either/or situation. Every single news report has said it was/will be BOTH eyes. She claimed in an interview back in **2009** that it was one eye + one if she was willing to pay an extra fee, which I find exceedingly strange in concept ( not impossible, just weird ). > > I wonder if the whole thing has become jumbled up in translation and she was offered money + one eye or the option of taking both his eyes with no monetary compensation and went for door #2. That what still be a strange bit of jurisprudence, but ever-so-slightly less so. **Tamarlane** Your second paragraph sounds much more likely. I have never heard of any kind of ruling where the victim could pay extra to get in a more comprehensive shot at the original criminal. I had always understood that you got your choice of vengeance OR blood money but not both. The paying extra bit is something I’ve never even heard of. Regards Testy ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2011, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-eye-for-an-eye-punishment-in-iran/581884/76 "2011-05-15T13:51:17Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > What a profoundly depressing thread. Sorry. ---
**Author:** ![scamartistry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/919ad9/32.png) [@scamartistry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scamartistry)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2011, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-eye-for-an-eye-punishment-in-iran/581884/77 "2011-05-15T14:17:19Z")
they should inject the acid into the man’s brain instead. World is better place without acid-prankster like him ---
**Author:** ![LurkerInNJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ed655f/32.png) [@LurkerInNJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkerInNJ)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2011, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-eye-for-an-eye-punishment-in-iran/581884/78 "2011-05-15T14:31:10Z")
> [@spark240](#): > > Yes. This kind of thing demeans the society that carries it out. The society where it is acceptable to blind and disfigure women by throwing acid in their face? ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2011, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-eye-for-an-eye-punishment-in-iran/581884/79 "2011-05-15T14:39:03Z")
> [@scamartistry](#): > > they should inject the acid into the man’s brain instead. World is better place without acid-prankster like him That’s a little too severe. I was thinking spare his eyes and pour a few gallons of acid on his 'nards. It would be more poetic justice than blinding him, because presumably he wanted to marry her so he could fuck her, and with this solution he wouldn’t be able to have sex with anyone ever again nor get married. The bonus for him is a lifetime of being able to see and ponder the effect of his actions in the form of his withered, scarred and ruined genitalia. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2011, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-eye-for-an-eye-punishment-in-iran/581884/80 "2011-05-15T15:21:14Z")
> [@LurkerInNJ](#): > > The society where it is acceptable to blind and disfigure women by throwing acid in their face? What? Who thinks it’s acceptable? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-eye-for-an-eye-punishment-in-iran/581884.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-eye-for-an-eye-punishment-in-iran/581884.md?page=5)