Iran protests spread into prisons
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – Protests in Islamic Republic of Iran seem to be much wider than be quelled as the authorities announced that everything was under control and contained as prisoners seem to be the latest protesters echoing protests in the whole of the country.
Late on Saturday, reports emerged that inmates at the notorious Evin Prison became recent participants in the nation-wide protests that have been ravaging the country since September 16.
Flames and thick smoke were widely seen rising from Tehran’s Evin prison on Saturday night.
Initially, the story developed following the still debatable death of the 22-year-old Kurdish women Mahsa (Zhina) Amini in Tehran after she was beaten by the morality police over the compulsory headscarf which Amini did not wear properly.
However, by now, the story has transcended Amini though the Kurdish woman has been acknowledged – at home and abroad – as an icon for freedom against repression.
Constructed in 1972, Evin, the Kurdish term for “love” is an infamous place for incarceration where prisoners are held in the multi-ward prison located at the outskirts of the capital Tehran. It is notorious for its mistreatment of political prisoners, including foreign detainees and thousands in prison on criminal charges. Hundreds of those arrested on the background of the recent protests were sent to Evin.
Iranian version of the story says “thugs” set fire to prison clothing depots. Iran state-run IRNA news agency cited a Tehran-based prosecutor commenting on the Evin affair as saying “nothing to do with recent unrest in the country.”
Those behind the “riot” were prisoners convicted of “financial crimes and theft,” the authority’s version tells.
However, both the version and the death toll given by Iran authorities are doubted by human rights groups.
One version told by the Oslo-based group Iran Human Rights (IHR) revealed that “There are reports about special forces’ deployment to extort prisoners and lay the groundwork for action,” IHR called for a fact-finding committee be sent to the ground.
Another one, largely based on stories told by relatives of inmates inside Evin, said the protests were organized by inmates mostly women echoing the ones sweeping the country since September 16. Police guards could deal with the situation. There are nearly 15.000 inmates at Evin.
Recent updates say, eight inmates were reported dead and 61 others were reported injured, according to official sources.
In 2017 and 2019 there were protests in the Islamic Republic. However, they were seen as more regional and confined to limited places. The Amini’s related ones are seen as nation-wide and more pervading and attracting all classes, ethnicities and sects in the country that is being ruled since 1979 by an iron fist.
As authorities are astonished at the scale of pervasion, security forces are convulsing with protesters. The first slogans read “Death to the Dictator,” a reference to the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the recent ones have called for a regime change.
According to the IHR, at least 108 people have been killed by security forces in crackdown following the death of Amini, and at least 93 more have been killed in separate clashes in Zahedan, Sistan-Balochistan province, while Iranian Human Rights activist news agency HRANA said on Saturday at least 240 protesters had been killed, including 32 minors and over 8.000 people had been arrested in 111 cities and towns, according to human rights groups.
Mohsen Mansouri, the governor of Tehran, told IRNA “The fire has been contained, and peace is maintained,” but not in the whole of the country, at Evin Prison, rather.