4 individuals have been killed in a blaze at a infamous jail within the Iranian capital that homes political prisoners and anti-government protesters, the Iranian judiciary stated on October 16.
Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi accused his U.S. counterpart of inciting chaos after President Joe Biden for voicing help for the protests which have rocked Iran since a younger girl was killed in police custody.
Flames and smoke rising from Tehran’s Evin jail had been broadly seen within the night on October 15, as nationwide anti-government protests triggered by the demise of Mahsa Amini entered a fifth week. In on-line movies, gunshots and explosions may very well be heard within the space of the jail.
State media initially reported 9 individuals have been injured however the judiciary web site Mizan.information on October 16 stated 4 inmates died of smoke inhalation and 61 others have been injured. It stated all 4 who died have been in jail on theft convictions.
Mizan added that 10 inmates have been hospitalized, with 4 in severe situation. Some prisoners had tried to flee however failed, the web site stated.
A reporter from Radio Farda was advised a riot started on October 15 in Ward 7 of the jail, which is known for holding political prisoners and was blacklisted by the U.S. authorities in 2018 for being a spot with “severe rights abuses.” The ward is subsequent to a different space the place these detained throughout the unrest over the demise of Amini are being held.
On October 16, state-run TV aired video of what it stated was the hearth’s aftermath, displaying scorched partitions and ceilings in a room it stated was the higher flooring of a stitching workshop on the jail.
Tehran Governor Mohsen Mansouri stated the hearth was brought on by a “combat between some prisoners in a stitching workshop.”
However many Iranian social media posts challenged state media claims over the reason for the hearth and obvious explosions on the jail.
The European Union’s high diplomat Josep Borrell expressed the “most severe concern” and known as for “most transparency on the state of affairs” following the jail blaze.
Borrell stated in a tweet on October 16 that Iranian authorities are answerable for the lives of “all detainees, together with human rights defenders and EU nationals.”
Some prisoners had known as their households on October 16, kin and attorneys stated.
Outstanding filmmaker Jafar Panahi on October 16 managed to name his spouse from Evin to let her know that he and fellow filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof are high quality and that authorities had used tear gasoline throughout the unrest, Radio Farda reported.
A lawyer representing Siamak Namazi, an American-Iranian held at Evin stated on October 16 that Namazi had contacted his household.
Namazi “is protected and has been moved to a safe space of Evin jail,” lawyer Jared Genser stated in a tweet.
Namazi has been sentenced for extra seven years on espionage-related fees rejected by Washington as baseless.
A number of different dual-national Iranians and overseas residents are held in Evin jail largely for doubtful security-related fees.
Households of inmates gathered on October 16 close to the jail hoping for information of their family members inside.
Former inmate of Evin and rights activist Atena Daemi stated kin of prisoners within the girls’s part had gone to Evin for visiting hours, however authorities denied them entry, leading to a standoff.
In accordance with Daemi, the kin have been advised that prisoners have been “high quality, however the telephones are damaged.”
Protests Proceed
Talking within the western U.S. state of Oregon on October 15, Biden stated he was stunned by the braveness of the individuals taking to the streets in protest in Iran.
Biden stated the Iranian “authorities is so oppressive” and that he had an “huge quantity of respect for individuals marching within the streets.”
Tehran stated the remarks amounted to interference in Iran’s inner affairs.
Raisi accused Biden of “inciting chaos, terror, and the destruction of one other nation.”
“The enemy’s plot should be countered by efficient measures to resolve individuals’s issues,” Raisi added, in response to a presidency assertion launched on October 16.
Iran has been rocked by nationwide protests — some of the severe challenges to the Islamic authorities because the 1979 revolution — sparked by Mahsa Amini’s demise on September 16.
The 22-year-old Amini was detained by morality police for “inappropriate apparel” with regard to her headband, or hijab. Eyewitnesses say Amini, who comes from the nation’s Kurdish area, was overwhelmed whereas in custody, however the authorities gave the official explanation for demise as “underlying illnesses.”
On October 16, Iran’s parliament printed an announcement claiming Amini didn’t die from any bodily blow however that she fell and police waited too lengthy to get therapy for her. It urged police to supply an apology and supply extra coaching to its workers. It instructed police put on cameras on their uniforms and set up them in vehicles used to switch detainees.
Human rights organizations have stated not less than 201 individuals have been killed within the crackdown by safety forces.
The unrest has continued regardless of what Amnesty Worldwide known as an “unrelenting brutal crackdown” that included an “all-out assault on little one protesters” — resulting in the deaths of not less than 23 minors.
Demonstrations happened at a number of universities on October 16, together with within the cities of Tabriz and Rasht. Riot police have been deployed close by.
Movies posted on social media purportedly confirmed college students at a Tehran college chanting: “Iran has was a giant jail. Evin jail has develop into a slaughterhouse.”
The authenticity of the footage can’t be independently verified.
The Iranian authorities’ repressive response to the protesters has drawn worldwide condemnation and sanctions on Iran from Britain, Canada and the US.
