Prisoners Hadi Rostami, Mehdi Sharafian, and Mehdi Shahivand, who were previously sentenced to amputation of four fingers of their right hand over “theft”, have been transferred to the Greater Tehran Central Penitentiary on 15 May for the execution of their sentences.
Reportedly, Rostami met with the Public Prosecutor of Orumiyeh during his visit to the prison last week and asked him to determine the status of his case. But a verbal conflict broke out between them due to an insult by the prosecutor.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office then ordered Rostami’s transfer to solitary confinement. A few days later, on 15 May, he was transferred to the Greater Tehran Central Penitentiary, together with two other detainees, Sharafian and Shahivand, for the execution of their sentences.
The prisoners have been informed that their transfer to Tehran was due to the lack of facilities to execute their sentences in Orumiyeh Central Prison.
The cases of the prisoners have also been referred to Branch 3 of the Enforcement of Judgments Office for criminal cases in Tehran. The prisoners face the risk of amputation of their fingers at any moment.
Rostami had previously gone on a hunger strike and wrote 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.
