Prisoner’s Fingers to be Cut Off as Punishment for Theft

A juvenile found guilty of robbery is due to have the fingers of his right hand cut off after the Supreme Court upheld the sentence against him.

Hadi Rostami, who is being held in Urmia Prison, was handed down the sentence for four counts of robbery along with three others. He is reported to have been pressured and intimidated by prison officials because news of his sentence was leaked to the public.

The punishment against Rostami, Mehdi Sharafian and Mehdi Shahivand was initially handed down by West Azerbaijan Province Juvenile Court on November 19, 2019.

Urmia Central Prison is reported to be one of Iran’s worst prisons, and it has become known for human rights violations against prisoners.

In one case in 2016, as two brothers faced the same punishment of “finger-guillotining” for robbery, prison authorities forced other prisoners to watch to "teach them a lesson."

Currently, seven people in Urmia Prison face the Islamic punishment of hudud, or amputation of the fingers on the right hand.