Judicial authorities threaten prisoners with amputation sentences

Top Iranian judicial officials have threatened to carry out the amputation sentences handed down to four prisoners at Orumiyeh Central Prison in West Azerbaijan province, the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) has learned ).

During a recent visit, Nasser Atbati, Director General of the Judiciary of West Azerbaijan Province, and Majidi, Prosecutor of Orumiyeh, met with prisoners Hadi Rostami, Mehdi Shahivand, Mehdi Sharifian and Kasra Karami, rejecting their appeals for mercy and indicating that their sentences would soon be carried out.

Currently, at least seven prisoners accused of “theft” are detained in Orumiyeh Central Prison and are sentenced to “amputation of four fingers of the hand”. These prisoners are Hadi Rostami, 34 years old; Mehdi Sharifian, 38 years old; Mehdi Shahivand, 43 years old; Shahab Teymouri, 36 years old; Mehrdad Teymouri, 40 years old; Kasra Karami, 41 years old; and Morteza Esmaeilian, 44 years old.

Rostami, Shahivand, Sharifian and Karami had previously been transferred to the Greater Tehran Central Penitentiary for the execution of their sentences, but were returned to Orumiyeh Central Prison.

In 2015, Rostami, Shahivand and Sharifian, from Ilam and Khorramabad, were arrested by the Orumiyeh Criminal Investigation Department and charged with “theft”.

On November 19, 2019, all three were found guilty of “theft” in a joint trial at the juvenile criminal court and sentenced to “amputation of four fingers of the right hand from the tip, leaving intact thumb and palm” and “return stolen property”.

The sentence was confirmed by the 13th branch of the Supreme Court, presided over by Justice Ali Shoushtari, on May 10, 2020.

Karami, from Kermanshah, Kermanshah Province, was arrested by the Orumiyeh Criminal Investigation Department on October 13, 2015.

His trial, which was held on February 12, 2017 before the first chamber of the Orumiyeh Criminal Court in the presence of 19 private plaintiffs and his court-appointed lawyer, resulted in a conviction to the amputation of the hand by judges Alireza Aghazadeh, Hamzeh Ali Ahmadi and Salman Najafi on February 12, 2017. charges of “theft”.

After Karami's lawyer appealed, the case was referred to the 27th branch of the Supreme Court, which on May 24, 2017, found the case incomplete due to the absence of an amputation request from the hand of the private complainant and referred it to the first chamber of the Orumiyeh Criminal Court. for re-examination.

In 2017, the criminal court again sentenced Karami to “amputation of four fingers of his right hand”, a verdict which was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2020.

Esmaeilian, 44, a father of two from Orumiyeh, was convicted of “theft” by an Orumiyeh court in 2013 and sentenced to “amputation of four fingers of his right hand” and 15 years in prison. imprisonment, which was confirmed by the court. Supreme Court in 2015.

In addition, Mehrdad Teymouri and Shahab Teymouri, originally from Sarpol-e Zahab and living in Karaj, as well as another civilian, Ebrahim Khatibi, were arrested on December 6, 2018 in Malard, Karaj, for “theft”.

According to a court document obtained by KHRN, the Orumiyeh Criminal Investigation Department claimed that these three Karaj residents, who had previous convictions for theft and restitution, committed a theft in Orumiyeh to pay their restitution and were arrested at Malard, Karaj.

In August 2019, the first chamber of the criminal court for minors and adolescents in Orumiyeh sentenced these three prisoners to “amputation of four fingers of the right hand” for theft.

After their court-appointed lawyers appealed, the case was referred to the 24th branch of the Supreme Court, which in April 2020 upheld the sentences of Mehrdad and Shahab Teymouri and overturned Khatibi's sentence, finding him ineligible to this sentence.