Three prisoners’ fingers amputated in Urmia Central Prison in inhumane punishment

Hengaw – Thursday, July 31, 2025

The inhumane sentence of amputating four fingers from the right hands of three prisoners—Hadi Rostami, Mehdi Sharafian, and Mehdi Shahivand—was carried out in Urmia Central Prison.

According to information received by the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, the amputations were implemented on the evening of Wednesday, July 30, 2025. The victims were identified as Mehdi Shahivand (29), Hadi Rostami (39, from Ilam), and Mehdi Sharafian (41, from Khorramabad).

Sources reported that the amputations took place in the prison’s execution chamber, overseen by Peyman Khanzadeh, the head of Urmia Central Prison, and Saeed Nouri, the deputy prosecutor. The procedure was conducted under local anesthesia.

The three prisoners were arrested in Urmia in 2015 and, in November 2019, were convicted by Branch One of the Juvenile Criminal Court on charges of theft. Their sentences included “amputation of four fingers of the right hand from the base, leaving the thumb and palm intact,” in addition to the return of stolen property.

On May 10, 2020, Branch 13 of Iran’s Supreme Court, presided over by Judge Ali Shoushtari, upheld the ruling.

Amnesty International previously condemned the planned amputations as “cruel and irreversible,” urging the international community to pressure the Islamic Republic of Iran to abolish such barbaric punishments.

This incident follows a similar case on October 29, 2024, when the same punishment was inflicted on two Kurdish brothers — Mehrdad Teymouri (34) and Shahab Teymouri (40) — using a guillotine in Urmia Central Prison’s execution yard.

Meanwhile, two other prisoners — Kasra Karami (41) and Morteza Esmaeiliyan (44) — remain at imminent risk of having their fingers amputated in the same facility.