Baku, Azerbaijan, September 6
By Khalid Kazimov - Trend:
A court in Iran has sentenced criminals to buying books.
The sentence comes as commutation for criminals with light sentences, turning their incarceration sentences into obligation to buy books, IRNA news agency reported September 6.
The books will be bought for the Gonbad-e Kavus prison in northern Gorgan province and they come in a variety of subjects and different levels of difficulty, said Qasem Naqizadeh, the judge who recently initiated the sentence.
In each sentence it is also stressed that the convict should study five books by the hearing day and send a summary of it to the court, the judge said.
Amendments to Iran's Islamic Punishment Law made two years ago allow judges to try substitute punishments for imprisonment.
Naqizadeh believes studying books in prison will not only bring about personal and social benefits, it will lower the chance of physical conflict among prisoners.
He noted that incarceration by itself leaves negative impacts on prisoners, pointing to the need to try to lessen the impacts as much as possible.