In recent months, Iran has implemented public hand and finger amputations as punishment for criminals, in accordance with a court ruling meant to address the country's theft problem. The news agency ISNA reported on one such public amputation, which took place on January 24, 2013, in the city of Shiraz, and displayed images of the apparatus used to carry out the amputation. At the public punishment, a 29-year-old man charged with robberies, selling stolen goods, and engaging in illicit sexual relations had his hand amputated. He was also sentenced to 99 lashes and three years imprisonment. ISNA noted that "his partner in the robberies was given an identical sentence of hand amputation, imprisonment, and lashes."
Public hand amputation in Shiraz[1]
Shiraz public prosecutor Ali Alghasi Mehr said at the event: "The judicial system has announced repeatedly that it is following a firm and uncompromising policy [against criminals], and every time the latter break the law and threaten the security of society, the judicial system will respond with utter firmness. The public execution of the sentence today is a serious warning to anyone who violates the public order through robbery."[2]
Similarly, on November 13, 2012, the head of the judicial system in Yazd Province announced that two thieves in Yazd had been sentenced to the public amputation of four fingers each, and added: "The punishment was carried out in public in order to teach criminals a lesson."[3]
Hand of Yazd criminal who had his fingers amputated[4]
Endnotes:
[1] ISNA (Iran), January 24, 2013.
[2] ISNA (Iran), January 24, 2013.
[3] ISNA (Iran), November 13, 2013.
[4] ISNA (Iran), November 13, 2013.
