Four prisoners dead, dozens injured in Iranian prison fire amid wave of protests

Four prisoners died as a result of a fire that occurred last Saturday evening in Tehran on Evin prisonpointed out the judiciary of the Islamic Republic of Iran, shocked for a month by a wide protest movement caused by the death of the young Mahsa Amini.

Authorities say “intruders” started the clashes and fire at the notorious detention center, but NGOs question this account.

NGOs have their own version

“Given that the lies of the perpetrators have become the norm, we do not accept official explanations,” the Oslo-based Iran Human Rights (IHR) responded, claiming they had received information that the guards were trying to incite the prisoners. . .

“Four prisoners died from smoke inhalation caused by Fireand 61 were injured,” Mizan Online reports. In total, “only ten wounded were hospitalized,” the report says, specifying that four of them are in serious condition.

The incident in the prison “has nothing to do” with the demonstrations held in many parts of the country in connection with the death Mahsa Aminiaccording to the official agency.

Evin Prison, sometimes referred to as “Evin University” due to the number of intellectuals locked up in it, currently houses numerous detainees during the protests and political and conscientious prisoners in general, as well as foreigners and binationals.

A wave of demonstrations over Amini’s death is now in its fifth week, despite a crackdown by security forces that has already killed 108 people, according to IHR.

Despite the closure of the roads to Evin, the protesters reached the center on foot, and in the videos published on social networks by the online environment 1500tasvir, one can hear the chants of “Death to the dictator” – one of the main slogans of the protest -.

Foreign prisoners safe

After the fire, several NGOs and the US expressed concern about the detainees.

“Prisoners, including political prisoners, are completely defenseless” in Evin, said Hadi Gaemi, director of the Center Human Rights in Iran (CHRI based in New York.

Amnesty International Secretary-General Agnès Callamard stressed that the Iranian authorities have a “legal obligation to respect and protect the life and well-being of all prisoners.”

Relatives and support groups of the prisoners, such as the French-Iranian interrogator Fariba Adelha, the American Siamak Namazi, and the Austrians Kamran Ghaderi and Masud Mossaheb, assured that they were safe, despite the fact that the latter would have inhaled smoke.

Australian academic Kylie Moore, also imprisoned at the centre, said relatives of the political prisoners said they were fine.

The Italian Foreign Ministry also confirmed that Alessia Piperno, an Italian traveler who was arrested on September 28 and is being held in Evin, is safe.

Complaint about “interference”

In solidarity with the prisoners of Evin, demonstrations took place on Saturday evening, according to various NGOs, after a day of protests over the death Mahsa Amini with the motto “The beginning of the end!”, hinting at the regime of the ayatollahs.

Amini was arrested for violating the country’s strict dress code for women, which, in particular, requires the wearing of a veil.

Protests continue to spread, led by young women who burn their veils and do not hesitate to confront the police.

“The mullahs must go!” a group of capless students from Tehran’s Shariati Vocational School chanted on Saturday, according to a video posted online.

There were also marches in Ardabil (NW) and university protests in Tehran, Isfahan (South) and Kermanshah (NW), according to videos posted online.

The Iranian government hit the US

Iranian leaders blame USAhis sworn enemy to destabilize the country.

On Sunday, Iranian diplomacy again criticized the “intervention” of President Joe Biden.

The current protest has become the largest wave of demonstrations and violence in Iran since 2019, protests against rising gasoline prices in this oil country.

But overthrowing the Iranian regime will require “many more demonstrations and sanctions” from Western countries, said Cornelius Adebar, an analyst at the international think tank Carnegie Europe. (AFP)