CNN
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At least 4 prisoners have been killed and 61 injured after a fireplace at Evin jail in northern Tehran, Iranian state media IRNA reported, attributing Iranian authorities.
The prisoners died of smoke inhalation, IRNA added. The hearth occurred Saturday evening and an Iranian safety official stated “thugs” set hearth to the warehouse of jail clothes, IRNA reported earlier.
A massive, darkish plume of smoke was seen billowing close to the jail in a number of movies on social media Saturday evening.
The hearth has been contained, and “peace is maintained,” the governor of Tehran, Mohsen Mansouri, instructed IRNA, including that the hearth was began by prisoners. Tehran’s Evin Prison is a notoriously brutal facility the place the regime incarcerates political dissidents.
“Now the situation of the prison is completely under control and peace is maintained in the prison complex and the streets around the prison are being monitored and under control,” Mansouri stated.
Activist group 1500tasvir reported that in movies posted on social media, gunshots have been heard and Iranian particular forces have been seen heading to the world the place the jail is believed to be situated.
The Iranian official stated that the “rioters” have been separated from different prisoners and the opposite detainees have returned to their cells, IRNA reported. CNN can not independently confirm the scenario.
Amnesty International Secretary General Agnes Callamard responded on Twitter to the social media movies with a reminder to Iranian authorities of their “legal obligation to respect and protect” the lives of prisoners following the hearth.
Callamard famous the jail is “notorious” and retweeted a submit from journalist Jason Rezaian whose “544 Days” podcast recounts the time he spent incarcerated within the jail.
“Evin is no ordinary prison. Many of Iran’s best and brightest have spent long stretches confined there, where brave women and men are denied their basic rights for speaking truth to power,” Rezaian wrote. “The regime is responsible for what happens to those inside right now.”
Speaking to state broadcaster IRIB, Tehran’s prosecutor Ali Salehi stated the “conflict” on the jail was not linked to the protests which have swept the nation following the demise of a younger girl in police custody.
In September, 22-year-old Mahsa Amini died after she was detained by the nation’s morality police for allegedly not carrying her hijab correctly. Iranian authorities have since unleashed a brutal crackdown on demonstrators, who’ve united round a variety of grievances with the nation’s authoritarian regime.
“Today’s conflict of prisoners has nothing to do with the recent riots, and basically, the ward related to security prisoners is separate and distant from the prisons of thieves and financial convicts where the fire and conflict took place,” Salehi stated.
According to Tehran’s prosecutor, Wards 7 and eight have been overcrowded, and the primary challenge was the hearth – which he stated had been began by some prisoners. Both the jail and the encompassing streets are below management now, he stated.
Witnesses beforehand stated that Iranian safety forces beat, shot and detained college students at Tehran’s Sharif University. Last month, almost two dozen youngsters have been killed in the course of the protests, in accordance with a report by Amnesty International.
At least 23 youngsters – some as younger as 11 – have been killed by safety forces within the final 10 days of September alone, the report stated.
Earlier this week, an Iranian official additionally admitted that college college students collaborating in road protests are being detained and brought to psychiatric establishments.
