While it might be difficult to picture someone who is old enough to be a grandparent as a criminal, the sad reality is that many inmates are senior citizens, especially in the United States. Regardless of how you may personally feel about jailing anyone over 65, all of the people on this list committed punishable crimes. Nearly all of the world’s oldest prisoners died in jail or were released when they were too frail to carry out the rest of their sentence. As of April 2022, the information on this list is as accurate as possible and will be updated as needed.
Born in 1924 in Tehran, Safavi grew up in a religious household. His mother traced her lineage to the Safavid dynasty, and his father was a Seyyed from Isfahan. He attended school in Tehran and later studied at a technical institute in Abadan, working briefly with the Anglo Oil Company. His exposure to colonial influence and Western dominance oil sector reportedly shaped his anti-colonial worldview. He spent some time in Najaf (Iraq), one of Shi’a Islam’s most important seminaries, which deepened his religious education and introduced him to influential clerics.
