Kurdistan Human Rights Network

Prisoners Hadi Rostami and Mehdi Shahivand, who were previously convicted of amputation of four fingers of their right hands over “theft”, went on a hunger strike on 29 May to protest against their transfer from Orumiyeh prison to Tehran prison.

The two prisoners handed over a letter to the guards of the Greater Tehran Central Penitentiary, announcing their hunger strike.

On May 15, Rostami and his two other cellmates, Mehdi Shahivand and Mehdi Sharafian were transferred from Orumiyeh Central Prison to the Greater Tehran Central Penitentiary for unknown reasons.

Previously, the Public Prosecutor’s Office in Orumiyeh had informed the detainees that their transfer to Tehran was due to the lack of facilities to execute their sentences in Orumiyeh Central Prison.

After the transfer of the prisoners, their cases were also referred to Branch 3 of the Enforcement of Judgments Office for criminal cases in Tehran.

Rostami had previously written a letter addressed to the Amnesty Commission of Iran and the UN Special Rapporteur on Iran:

“I, Hadi Rostami, have been sentenced to the amputation of four fingers of my right hand and payment of several billion [Iranian Tomans] worth of restitution of property under case number 100403 at Branch 1 of the Criminal Court of West Azerbaijan province. I have been in prison for five years now. I have been severely tortured in the offices of the intelligence ministry in several cities, including Orumiyeh, Ardabil, and Bandar-e Anzali.”

The prisoner further stated in his letter that he was not aware of 20 of the 28 thefts mentioned in his case and that the court had ordered the brutal amputation of four fingers of his right hand, regardless of his defence in the court.

Branch 13 of the Supreme Court of Iran upheld the sentence and referred it to the Enforcement of Judgments Office of Branch 8 of the Public and Revolutionary Court of Orumiyeh for execution.

According to the statistics compiled by the KHRN, there are currently six prisoners convicted of “theft” and sentenced to amputation of four fingers of a hand.

These prisoners are the 33-year-old Hadi Rostami, 37-year-old Mehdi Sharafian, 42-year-old Mehdi Shahivand, 35-year-old Shahab Teymouri, 39-year-old Mehrdad Teymouri, and 40-year-old Kasra Karami.