Iran gives judges right to shoot after attack

Iran Focus:

Tehran, Iran, Aug. 28 – The head of the Tehran Criminal Court on Sunday announced that all judges would be allowed to carry arms and shot at will anyone whom they feel threatened by. Fakhreddin Jafarzadeh told the state-run news agency ISNA, “Higher-ranking officials have announced that as of tomorrow all judges will be armed with handguns and whenever they feel threatened they have been given the right to shoot”.

The announcement came in the wake of a shooting of another judge in Tehran Sunday morning. Mohammad Reza Aghazadeh was shot in the eye and hand while leaving his residence on his way to work. The new Minister of Justice said that he was rushed to hospital where he was recovering from his injuries.

A high-profile judge had been killed in an attack earlier in August. Sunday’s decision effectively allows judges to shoot any individual on the sole basis that they feel threatened by them.