Urmiya Prison: Amputation of Four Fingers of Three Prisoners’ Right Hands Carried Out

The sentence of amputating four fingers of the right hand of three prisoners—Hadi Rostami (son of Naser, born January 9, 1987, from Mehran, Ilam Province), Mehdi Shahivand (son of Ali, born March 21, 1978, from Lorestan), and Mehdi Sharafian (son of Mohbeali, born in 1983, from Khorramabad, Lorestan Province)—was carried out in Urmia Central Prison.

According to an informed source, on the evening of July 30, 2025, the three prisoners were summoned to the guard’s office, handcuffed, shackled, and blindfolded before being taken to the execution room.

The source added that the amputation of the four fingers of their right hands was performed after the injection of a local anesthetic, using a guillotine device.

The source stated that the punishment was carried out in the presence of Peyman Khanzadeh, the head of Urmia Prison, and Saeed Nouri, the deputy prosecutor.

These three prisoners were jointly tried on October 24, 2019 by Branch 1 of the Criminal Court for Juveniles and Minors in Urmia. Under Article 278 of the Islamic Penal Code, they were convicted of “four counts of hadd theft, punishable by the amputation of four fingers of the right hand from the base, leaving the thumb and palm intact,” and under Article 667, they were also ordered to return the stolen property. This verdict was delivered to them on November 19, 2019 in Urmia Prison.

On May 10, 2020, the Supreme Court’s Branch 13 upheld the amputation sentence for all three prisoners and notified them in Urmia Prison.

In the Supreme Court’s ruling, it stated:

“Considering that the issued verdict has been made in a documented and reasoned manner, and no fault undermining the court’s findings has been established, and since the appeal does not correspond to any of the provisions listed in Article 464 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, pursuant to Clause (a) of Article 469 of the same law, the appeal is rejected and the appealed verdict is confirmed. This decision is final.”

After confirmation by the Supreme Court, the case was sent to the Urmia Judiciary’s Enforcement of Judgments Office for implementation.

Relatedly, on the morning of October 30, 2024, the sentence of amputating four fingers of the right hands of two brothers—Mehrdad Teimouri and Shahab Teimouri (sons of Hossein, from Sarpol-e Zahab and residing in Malard, Karaj)—was also carried out in Urmia Central Prison.