Speaking of Iran...

Here is the story of an Iranian Kurd who received 130 lashes for drinking two beers. But it's hard to feel sorry for him when you really read into the story...

According to the article, Mamand Mamandy, a resident of Norway but born in Iran, was visiting his mother in April 2007, when he was arrested for drinking two beers and given the lashes by police. But then the article says he came to Norway as an asylum seeker in 1999 and he and his wife are seeking Norwegian citizenship.

If that's true, then what was he doing back in Iran? When you flee a country and claim asylum, you are taking an extraordinary step. Essentially, you are claiming (and you must do it under oath) that you have a such fear of persecution back in your home country that it would be inhumane to send you back there.

For an asylum seeker to go back to his/her country on a visit is a very strong indicator that his/her application was bogus in the first place. But unfortunately, it is all too common. Here in Europe, it happens all the time, and people are not even discreet about it. Asylum seekers are rather common here, and they often go home on vacations to buy cheap gifts, come back, and show their photos to everyone in their workplace.

There is another red flag here that makes his application suspect. Under international law, asylum seekers are supposed to make their asylum claim in the first free nation they come across, not go shopping around. Well, if you look at a map, there's one heck of a lot of countries between Iran and Norway... So unless he had flown to Norway non-stop for some unrelated reason, such as a student visa or some such, he shouldn't have made his claim there anyway.

I hope this causes Norway to take a good hard look at his application again. But I doubt they will. In fact, the irony here is that his flogging is likely to strengthen his case! Most likely, the fact that he shouldn't have been there in the first place will scarcely be noticed.

It's also a testimonial to the lack of common sense on the part of Mr. Mamandy. Since he undoubtedly knew the laws on alcohol were so strict, why did he take the chance?

None of this changes the fact that I find such a severe flogging, particularly for such a trivial offense, absolutely abhorrent. Its also evidence that Iran has no respect for even the most basic legal customs, since from the article it looks like the sentence was carried out by the police with no trial or appeal process in place.

Another reason why I don't recommend vacationing in Iran, despite their efforts to promote themselves as a tourist destination.