17 February 2021, 10:00 UTC
The Iranian authorities’ flogging of Hadi Rostami, an inmate at Urumieh prison in West Azerbaijan province, 60 times on 14 February 2021 is a gruesome reminder of the cruelty of Iran’s seriously flawed justice system, said Amnesty International, calling on the authorities to immediately quash his conviction and amputation sentence and provide him with the urgent medical care he needs.
A criminal court in West Azerbaijan province convicted Hadi Rostami of robbery in November 2019 following a grossly unfair trial marred by torture-tainted “confessions” and sentenced him to having four of his fingers amputated. In late 2020, while in prison, he was sentenced to 60 lashes and eight month’s imprisonment for “disrupting prison order”. This was in relation to his peaceful protest- including in the form of hunger strikes - against his inhumane prison conditions and repeated threats over the past two months that his amputation sentence would be implemented imminently. He is currently suffering serious health complications resulting from two recent suicide attempts.