While the amputation of a man’s hand for stealing a sheep sparked domestic and international outrage, the head of the Justice Department in Razavi Khorassan Province said some judges believed that the thief should have been executed.
Iran amputated the hand of a convicted thief on January 17, 2018, in the Central Prison of Mashhad, northeastern Iran. The amputation was conducted by guillotine. The 34-year-old victim, Ali.kh. was arrested in 2011 for stealing livestock.
Amnesty International described the amputation as a “shocking act of cruelty” and said: “Meting out such unspeakably cruel punishments is not justice and serves to highlight the Iranian authorities’ complete disregard for human dignity. There is no place for such brutality in a robust criminal justice system.”
The incident took place on the same day that Judiciary Spokesperson Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje’I stressed on cross amputation for offenders. Referring to the punishment of offenders according to religious law, he said that “a leg and hand can be amputated.”
Iranian regime is issuing such inhumane sentences for petty thieves while senior officials are embezzling millions of dollars of people’s money and evade justice all together.
