Hadi Rostami, a prisoner from Ilam Province, has written an open letter to human rights organisations, urging them to intervene and stop the imminent execution of his amputation sentence, the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) reported.

“I call on human rights organisations, the United Nations, and all international bodies to take urgent action to prevent the execution of this inhumane sentence”, he said in his letter.

Rostami, along with two co-defendants, Mehdi Shahivand and Mehdi Sharafian, has been sentenced to the amputation of four fingers on his right hand on charges of “theft”.

A copy of his letter, obtained by the Kurdistan Human Rights Network, states that the three prisoners were summoned to the Enforcement of Judgements Office of Orumiyeh Central Prison on 13 March 2025, where they were formally informed by Deputy Prosecutor Nouri that their amputation sentences would be executed unless they obtained the consent of the plaintiffs in their case within 30 days.

Rostami’s letter to human rights organisations reads as follows:

“I, Hadi Rostami, an inmate from Ilam, have been incarcerated in Orumiyeh Central Prison since 2017 on charges of ‘theft’ and sentenced to the amputation of four fingers on my right hand—despite my innocence. I have repeatedly stated that I have no knowledge of the 22 cases of theft listed in my file. However, in the detention centre of the Orumiyeh’s Criminal Investigation Department, I was subjected to severe torture and forced to sign blank papers. Even then, I continued to assert my innocence, but my voice was ignored.

Now, after eight years, the Orumiyeh Prosecutor’s Office has informed me and my co-defendants, Mehdi Shahivand and Mehdi Sharafian, that if we fail to secure the plaintiffs’ consent within 30 days, our hands will be amputated.

How can I obtain the consent of those I have never harmed? A consent that requires billions of tomans in compensation—an amount that neither I nor my family, who live below the poverty line, can afford. Where am I supposed to get such a sum? And now, they want to cut off my hand for a crime I did not commit.

I call upon human rights organisations, the United Nations, and all international bodies to take urgent action to prevent the execution of this inhumane sentence.

Hadi Rostami – Orumiyeh Central Prison, March 2025”

Previous Warnings and Executions of Amputation Sentences

On 29 October 2024, following the amputation of four fingers from the right hands of two Kurdish brothers, Shahab and Mehrdad Teymouri, in Orumiyeh Central Prison, Rostami, Shahivand, and Sharafian issued an open letter warning of the likelihood of the same sentence being carried out against them.

The three men, from the cities of Ilam and Khorramabad, were arrested by the Criminal Investigation Department in Orumiyeh in 2015.

All three were tried in a joint case and on 19 November 2019, the Juvenile and Youth Criminal Court One sentenced them to “amputation of four fingers of the right hand from the base, ensuring that the thumb and palm remain intact”. They were also ordered to return the stolen property.

On 10 May 2020, Branch 13 of the Supreme Court, presided over by Judge Ali Shoushtari, upheld the verdict.

Currently, at least five prisoners accused of “theft” are being held in Orumiyeh Central Prison with the sentence of “amputation of four fingers of the hand.” These prisoners are Hadi Rostami, 34 years old; Mehdi Sharifian, 38 years old; Mehdi Shahivand, 43 years old; Kasra Karami, 41 years old; and Morteza Esmaeilian, 44 years old.