4 folks had been killed in a blaze at a infamous jail within the Iranian capital that homes political prisoners and anti-government protesters, the Iranian judiciary mentioned 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 extensively seen within the night on October 15, as nationwide anti-government protests triggered by the dying 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 folks had been injured however the judiciary web site Mizan.information on October 16 mentioned 4 inmates died of smoke inhalation and 61 others had been injured. It mentioned all 4 who died had been in jail on theft convictions.
Mizan added that 10 inmates had been hospitalized, with 4 in severe situation. Some prisoners had tried to flee however failed, the web site mentioned.
A reporter from Radio Farda was informed a riot started on October 15 in Ward 7 of the jail, which is legendary 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 in the course of the unrest over the dying of Amini are being held.
On October 16, state-run TV aired video of what it mentioned was the fireplace’s aftermath, exhibiting scorched partitions and ceilings in a room it mentioned was the higher ground of a stitching workshop on the jail.
Tehran Governor Mohsen Mansouri mentioned the fireplace was brought on by a “struggle between some prisoners in a stitching workshop.”
However many Iranian social media posts challenged state media claims over the reason for the fireplace and obvious explosions on the jail.
The European Union’s prime diplomat Josep Borrell expressed the “most severe concern” and known as for “most transparency on the state of affairs” following the jail blaze.
Borrell mentioned in a tweet on October 16 that Iranian authorities are liable for the lives of “all detainees, together with human rights defenders and EU nationals.”
Some prisoners had known as their households on October 16, family and legal professionals mentioned.
Distinguished 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 wonderful and that authorities had used tear fuel in the course of the unrest, Radio Farda reported.
A lawyer representing Siamak Namazi, an American-Iranian held at Evin mentioned 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 mentioned 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 international 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 mentioned family of prisoners within the girls’s part had gone to Evin for visiting hours, however authorities denied them entry, leading to a standoff.
In response to Daemi, the family had been informed that prisoners had been “wonderful, however the telephones are damaged.”
Protests Proceed
Talking within the western U.S. state of Oregon on October 15, Biden mentioned he was stunned by the braveness of the folks taking to the streets in protest in Iran.
Biden mentioned the Iranian “authorities is so oppressive” and that he had an “huge quantity of respect for folks marching within the streets.”
Tehran mentioned 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 folks’s issues,” Raisi added, in response to a presidency assertion launched on October 16.
Iran has been rocked by nationwide protests — one of the vital severe challenges to the Islamic authorities for the reason that 1979 revolution — sparked by Mahsa Amini’s dying on September 16.
The 22-year-old Amini was detained by morality police for “inappropriate apparel” with regard to her scarf, or hijab. Eyewitnesses say Amini, who comes from the nation’s Kurdish area, was crushed whereas in custody, however the authorities gave the official reason behind dying as “underlying ailments.”
On October 16, Iran’s parliament revealed 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 employees. It steered police put on cameras on their uniforms and set up them in automobiles used to switch detainees.
Human rights organizations have mentioned not less than 201 folks 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 baby protesters” — resulting in the deaths of not less than 23 minors.
Demonstrations came about at a number of universities on October 16, together with within the cities of Tabriz and Rasht. Riot police had been deployed close by.
Movies posted on social media purportedly confirmed college students at a Tehran college chanting: “Iran has became an enormous jail. Evin jail has change 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 america.
