Corpun file 5054

Reuters, 25 December 1999

Iran flogs two for smoking in public

TEHRAN, Dec 25 (Reuters) - Two Iranian men have been flogged in Tehran for smoking in public during the Moslem fasting month of Ramadan, a newspaper reported on Saturday.

The men received 10 lashes each on Friday after a court convicted them of smoking in the lobby of a judiciary building hours earlier, the daily Entekhab said.

Iran's Islamic laws forbid eating, drinking or smoking in public from dawn until sunset, the period of fasting during Ramadan.

Copyright 1999 Reuters Limited.