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| Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Esfandiar Rahim Mashaie |
(Scroll down for video) We always hear about ordinary people getting lashed in Iran, but now the president of Iran is facing a punishment of 74 lashes.
After accompanying his former chief of staff to register for the presidential election coming up in June, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad could face a penalty if charged with violating election laws, the country's electoral watchdog said in a statement.
Ahmadinejad accompanied Esfandiar Rahim Mashaie on Saturday to register with the Ministry of Interior.
Photographs in Iran showed them holding hands and making peace signs.
Mashaie said the president had accompanied him during his day off from work.
However, according to eyewitnesses, the president had introduced the individual as a candidate for the elections.
Abbas Ali Kadkhodai, a Guardian Council spokesperson said that the council supervisory board unanimously agreed that "the president's actions in the introduction of an individual as a candidate for election constituted a criminal violation."
"We reported the facts to courts," Kadkhodai said.
The Guardian Council, a body of clerics and jurists, vets all candidates for election.
Iranian Elections Act prohibits the use of state resources for or against any candidate, and prohibits individuals from supporting candidates in their official capacity.
A conviction could bring a maximum sentence of six months in jail or 74 lashes.
“Maybe this will put an end to the punishment of public lashes. No one in government cares when ordinary people receives lashes, but now that Ahmadinejad faces lashes, maybe the law will be changed,” Oscar Soto, 22, of Washington D.C. told YourJewishNews.com after learning about Ahmadinejad’s election law violation.
Ahmadinejad cannot run for a third term on constitutional grounds in the June 14 presidential elections.