Ahmadinejad to get 74 lashes for election law violation?

Probably not, but the idea is attractive, isn't it?

After accompanying his former chief of staff to register for June’s presidential vote, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad may face punishment if charged with breaking electoral

rules, the country’s electoral watchdog said.

The president had accompanied Esfandiar Rahim Mashaie on Saturday to register at the Interior Ministry.

Photographs in the Iranian media showed them gripping hands and making peace signs.

Abbas Ali Kadkhodai, a spokesman for the Guardian Council, said the council’s supervisory board unanimously agreed “the...actions of the president in introducing an individual as an election candidate constituted a violation and were criminal,” according to Khabar.

“We reported the facts to the judiciary,” Kadkhodai said.

The Guardian Council, a body of clerics and jurists, vets all candidates for elections.

Iranian electoral law forbids the use of state resources on behalf of or against any candidate, and bans individuals from supporting candidates in an official capacity.

A conviction could bring a maximum punishment of six months in jail or 74 lashes, according to local press reports.

For years Ahmadinejad has claimed that Iran's human rights record was better than that of any Western nations, so he should volunteer to be flogged just to prove how wonderful Iran's justice system is.