Taliban publicly execute a person for the first time since taking power in Afghanistan

In Afghanistan, on December 7, the first officially confirmed public execution took place after the Taliban (a terrorist organization banned in the Russian Federation) came to power, reported Reuters referring to the statement of its representative Zabiullah Mujahid.

The man who was executed turned out to be a man who in 2017 stabbed another person to death. The execution, which took place in the western province of Farah, was attended by more than a dozen senior Taliban officials, including the acting prime minister, the Afghan Foreign and Interior Ministry, and the country’s chief judge.

Prior to this, Reuters notes, the Supreme Court of Afghanistan announced cases of public flogging of men and women held in several provinces, accused, in particular, of robbery and adultery. The practice of lashing and public stoning was widespread under the previous Taliban rule from 1996-2001, but was condemned by successive foreign-backed Afghan governments, although the death penalty remained legal in Afghanistan.

Representatives of the Taliban came to power once again in August 2021 after the withdrawal of American troops from the country. Since then, Moscow has not officially recognized the Taliban as the legitimate government of Afghanistan, but is negotiating with representatives of the movement. Late last year, a Taliban spokesman announced plans to appoint an ambassador to Moscow.

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