Christian Man In Iran To Have His Lips Burnt For Eating During Ramadan

oge okonkwo

July 23, 2014 5:45 PM

Five Muslim men were also flogged for not fasting

A Christian man has been sentenced by an Iranian judge to have his lips burnt with a cigarette for eating during the day in the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

The punishment was carried out in public in a square in the city of Kermanshah.

Five other Muslim men were publicly flogged with 70 lashes for not fasting during Ramadan.

The punishment given to offenders has been criticized by the National Council of Resistance of Iran, a political coalition which opposes the government. The spokesperson from the coalition denounced the treatment as 'savage' and called on western countries to take action.

The group said: 'The silence of the world community, especially of western countries, vis-à-vis these medieval punishments under the excuse of having nuclear talks with Iran has intensified the brutal and systematic violation of human rights in Iran.

'This will ultimately embolden the Iranian regime to continue its nuclear projects more than before.'

But earlier this year the UN blasted Iran for the persecution of Christians in a damning report laid bare to the world in March.

The detailed report found that Iran has continued to imprison Christians for their faith and designated house churches and evangelical Christians as 'threats to national security.'

There are an estimated 250,000 Christians in Iran's 76 million population

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