A report on the poor condition of 42 political prisoners deported to Rajaei Shahr prison
24-October-2022
Category: Prisoners
October 23, 2022
Newsgroup: Prisoners –
Breathing in Confinement: After a large fire broke up in Evin prison, some political prisoners were beaten and then deported to Rajaei Shahr prison. These prisoners are currently being held in a very poor condition in quarantine ward of Rajaei Shahr prison and are denied even the basic medical care. On October 16, 2022, these prisoners were beaten and deported from Evin prison to Rajaei Shahr prison by a bus under a high security situation.
According to “Breathing in Confinement”, the news organ of the Prisoners’ Rights League in Iran, 42 political prisoners who were recently deported to Rajaei prison in Karaj are being kept in a very poor condition.
“On October 16, after setting a large fire in Evin prison and killing some of the prisoners, security agents beat and killed some of the political prisoners and forcibly transferred them under security conditions by a bus to Rajaei Shahr Prison in Karaj. The prisoners are being kept in poor conditions in the quarantine ward of Rajaei Shahr prison”, said an informed source to the reporter of “Breathing in Confinement”.
The source continued: “After nearly a week, these political prisoners have not been even registered to Rajai Shahr prison and are denied access to telephone and cash machines.”
“Many of these political prisoners are injured following being beaten by the security forces in Evin prison. They, however, are denied the minimum medical care,” the source added.
These political prisoners have been kept in quarantine ward while there is a special ward for political prisoners in this prison equipped with CCTV cameras and in high security conditions. According to the reports received by “Breathing in Confinement”, the authorities of Rajaei Shahr Prison agree to transfer these 42 political prisoners to this ward. The security agents, however, prevent the transfer. As per the reports, the security forces are planning to keep these prisoners in Ward 5 of Rajaei Shahr Prison, where the violent and dangerous prisoners under death sentence are being held.
“Contrary to the law regarding segregation of crimes, the political prisoners who have been transferred from Evin prison, are going to be held in Ward 5 of Rajaei Shahr prison allocated to prisoners convicted of violent crimes and located near the execution suite,” said an informed source.
Expressing concern over the lives of these political prisoners, the source added: “Moving to Ward 5 of Rajaei Shahr Prison endangers the lives of political prisoners. Because the prisoners under death sentence do anything to stop their sentences, even committing a murder. Therefore, the plan for keeping political prisoners in the vicinity of these dangerous prisoners on which the agents of the Ministry of Intelligence insist, bears the risk of conflicts and clashes with these prisoners and even life-threatening injuries to the political prisoners.
Condemning the torture and beating of political prisoners, the Prisoners’ Rights League in Iran calls on all human rights entities and organizations to save the lives of political prisoners, especially the prisoners who have been severely beaten and ill-treated following the large fire in Evin prison. The use of conditions deliberately created by the authorities of the Islamic Republic to torture and pressurize political prisoners must be condemned, and the international community must show a decisive reaction in this regard.
In the evening of October 15, the security forces attacked on Ward 7 in Evin Prison with shooting bullets and tear gases, leading to a massive fire in the prison. The security forces also attacked on the political prisoners in Wards 4 and 8 of Evin prison as well as the women’s ward and this continued until late at night. The focus of the attack, however, was on political prisoners in Ward 8 and the ordinary prisoners in Ward 7. According to the state media the attack left 4 prisoners dead, and 6 others wounded. The independent reports, however, indicate that more than 20 people died as a result of this attack.
Security agents injured and beat a large number of political prisoners and transferred 42 of them to Rajaei Shahr prison in Karaj on Sunday, October 16. Some of these prisoners have been identified as:
Pooya Ghobadi, Akbar Bagheri, Meitham Dehbanzadeh, Kasra Bani Amerian, Vahid Bani Amerian, Lughman Aminpour, Hossein Keihani, Ali Afkham Ebrahimi, Nematullah Hakimi, Adel Gorji, Pouria Mazroub, Yashar Daralshafa, Kaveh Daralshafa, Amir Abbas Azarmvand, Karim Azizmohammadi, Arash Johari, Mohsen Kord Mihan, Meisam Mohammadi and Behrouz Montazer.
Many of these prisoners are seriously injured and the pellets are still in their bodies, but they have been left without medical care.