Fingers Of Iranian Prisoner Amputated Over Robbery

Despite numerous calls by Iranian and international human rights defenderss, the Islamic Republic cut off four fingers of a convict in Tehran’s Evin prison.

Former political prisoner and civil rights activist Arash Sadeghi said on Wednesday that the sentence the prisoner who was tried for theft was executed in Evin prison infirmary. 

The sentence was reportedly carried out with a guillotine-like device in the presence of the prosecutor and judicial officials.

This is the second amputation sentence in the prison in less than two months. In June, four fingers of another prisoner were cut off with the guillotine reportedly installed at the infirmary a month earlier to carry out such sentences. 

Earlier in July, the chief prosecutor of Iran’s Khorasan Razavi province said several cases of amputations for robbery are currently at the execution stage, and called on judges not to hesitate to issue death and amputation sentences. 

Late in June, the head of the Iranian association of surgeons, Iraj Fazel, called on the judiciary not to sanction the amputation of fingers to punish thieves, describing the practice as "worrying and horrifying."

According to Islamic Sharia law, punishment for theft can be amputation of fingers or hands.

Iran’s judicial system is repeatedly criticized for ignoring standard human rights while right groups say the country has embarked on an execution spree at a “horrifying pace” with at least 251 deaths since the beginning of 2022. 

On Wednesday, four people were executed while one of them – identified as Mohsen Safari and charged over drug trafficking – was suffering from bipolar disorder, a condition that can make one act on impulsive decisions with no regard for consequences.