Iran amputates hands of three 'thieves' in rare use of brutal Sharia law punishment

Daily Mail​

a day ago

Iranian authorities have amputated the hands of three convicted 'thieves' in a rare use of the brutal Sharia law punishment.
The savage punishment, usually reserved for repeat offenders, was given to three men at Urmia Prison in the West Azerbaijan province, in northwest Iran, on Thursday at around 1am.
The men, described by Iran's judiciary website as 'professional thieves', were arrested between August 2017 and November 2019 and convicted in a 'grossly unfair' trial in which the court sentenced them to have four fingers on their right hands completely cut off.
They had 'more than 40 private plaintiffs across four provinces', the judiciary's Mizan website said.
'The sentence of hand amputation for three professional thieves with a history of multiple thefts was carried out in West Azerbaijan province', it added.
Mizan said the amputations had been carried out after Iran's top court upheld the sentences against the trio, and after they had not cooperated with 'many' attempts to negotiate the return of the stolen items.
The claimed that returning the stolen goods, mostly gold jewelry, would have allowed them 'to benefit from legal leniency and repentance'.
Amnesty's Middle East and North Africa Deputy Director Sarah Hashas said the amputations were 'based on 'confessions' obtained under torture and following grossly unfair trials'.
'They are a chilling reminder of the Iranian authorities' readiness to inflict irreversible suffering and that Iran's judicial system is a vital cog in the machinery of torture', she added.
The three men were sentenced to 'amputation of four fingers from the right hand from the base, so that the thumb remains' despite testimony that their confessions were extracted under torture, according to documents obtained by Iran Human Rights organisation (IHRNGO).
Since getting the gruesome sentence, all three had gone on multiple hunger strikes in prison to protest the inhumane conditions they have been subjected to, as well as their conviction.
IHRNGO Director, Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam said: 'The international community must not tolerate the implementation of medieval and degrading sentences like finger amputations in the 21st century.'
The Sharia-based penal code was introduced in Iran after the Islamic revolution of 1979.
It provides for amputation as a punishment for certain offences, although human rights groups have condemned its use as 'cruel' and 'inhumane'.
Last month Iranian authorities amputated the hands of two men who had been repeatedly convicted of theft.
According to the US-based Abdorrahman Boroumand Centre, Iranian authorities have amputated the fingers of at least 131 men since January 2000.