A young Iranian man has been sentenced to hang for repeatedly drinking, the Etemad newspaper reports. There is a strict ban on alcohol in Islamic Iran.

The 22-year-old, identified only as Mohsen, was handed down the death penalty by a criminal court after being found guilty of drinking alcohol for a fourth time.

The young man had expressed his repentance in a letter, but the judges of Branch 72 of the Tehran penal court sentenced him to death. “The defendant in this case has been sentenced to hang until he is dead,” announced Judge Jalil Jalili.

The usual punishment for a single drinking offense is 80 lashes, according to Iran’s penal code, which is based in Islamic sharia law.

Iran has seen an upsurge in executions in recent months as the authorities implement a campaign which they say is aimed at improving security in society. There are no recent records of any people being hanged in Iran for drinking alcohol.

Agence France Presse and one or two other news outlets (including Radio Farda) have reported on this story, but true to form it is being ignored or downgraded by most other Western media.