A prisoner detained at Orumiyeh Central Prison charged with robbery was sentenced to hand amputation by Branch 1 of the Criminal Court (Children & Adolescents Division) in Orumiyeh.

Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) has been informed that Kasra Karami, born in 1980 as son of Yadollah from Kermanshah who was arrested on October 2015, was sentenced to hand Amputation by Branch 1 of the Orumiyeh Criminal Court for a second time.

The prisoner was arrested by the Investigation Forces on October 21, 2015 at the Orkhei Medical Centre, and was interrogated and tortured on several charges of Theft. The trial of this prisoner was held on February 24, 2016 with the presence of 19 private prosecutors and the prisoner’s lawyer at Branch 1 of the Orumiyeh Criminal Court where three judges (called Ali Reza Aghazadeh, Hamzeh Ali Ahmadi and Salman Najafi) sentenced him to hand amputation on charges of rubbery.

The verdict was referred to Branch 27 of the Supreme Court after the prisoner’s lawyer contested the verdict based on which the court found the case incomplete since private prosecutors had not asked for hand amputation sentence. Accordingly, the case was to Branch 1 The Criminal Court of Orumiyeh for reconsideration.

The retrial of the prisoner was held on July 22 and October 1, 2017 when the court confirmed the hand amputation sentence. The hand amputation sentence for some of the defendants charged with theft in Iran is issued and enforced per Article 278 of the Islamic Penal Code (formerly Article 198). According to Article 278 of the Islamic Penal Code, the first instance “limit of theft” leads to hand amputation whereby four fingers of the right hand is amputated.”

The issuance and execution of hand amputation sentence by the Government of the Islamic Republic has been repeatedly condemned by international human rights organisations as a cruel and inhuman punishment.