The death toll rises after fire at Evin, Iran's most heinous prison
At least eight people have died in a fire at Evin prison, which has seen the worst human rights violations in Iran. The death toll could rise in the coming hours. More than 60 inmates were injured in an incident that has yet to be clarified and which coincides with the wave of protests following the death of the young Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini in police custody, an event that has shaken the foundations of the Persian theocratic regime for the past five weeks. The fire only heightened tensions in the country's nerve centre.
On Saturday night, flames engulfed the Evin prison, located near a residential neighbourhood of the same name in the north of the capital. The compound, armoured with electrified barbed-wire fences and a minefield, holds hundreds of prominent dissidents. From opposition politicians to journalists, activists, businessmen and academics. In fact, some of those arrested in the mobilisations following Amini's death have been detained there.
Several witnesses documented the fire from near the prison with their mobile phones. In the videos and images circulating on social media, the sound of explosions and gunshots can be heard coming from inside Evin. It is unclear, however, how the fire broke out. Versions differ. The authorities reacted quickly by sending in a contingent of the Revolutionary Guards and another of the Basij, the paramilitary militia that assists the rest of the Security Forces.
The state television channel Mizan, which is close to the Iranian judiciary, confirmed the death of four prisoners in wards seven and eight of the building, where those convicted of financial crimes are held. The cause of death was smoke inhalation, according to the official version. Ten other wounded were rushed to Taleqani and Modarres hospitals, four of them in critical condition, who eventually died. Later that night, Mizan broadcast a report to convey normality.
I lived in Atisaz towers, across from Evin prison. I spoke now to a friend there and could hear-as reflected in this video-cries of 'death to Khamenei' and gunshots. Evin is full of political prisoners, including US citizens. Their families are terrified. pic.twitter.com/Xmvug6w2VK
— Karim Sadjadpour (@ksadjadpour) October 15, 2022
Evin's neighbours, consulted by several Western media, claim to have heard more explosions "well into Sunday morning". Some prisoners were able to talk to their families hours after the fire, but on Saturday night it was impossible to approach the facility. Accesses were blocked and roads were collapsed.
The versions provided by the different channels of the regime do not agree. Some speak of an incident in the cellblock workshop, others of a riot and an altercation between prisoners. But the most widespread version is that a group of inmates carried out an escape attempt that ended with the detonation of several mines, which would explain the sound of the explosions. The governor of Tehran, Mohsen Mansouri, and the other authorities simply attributed the fire to a number of "criminal elements". They denied any link to the protests.
The identities of the eight dead have not been released. Among the political prisoners held in Evin are two Iranian businessmen with US citizenship, Siamak Namazi and Emad Sharghi, accused of espionage. The Biden administration is closely monitoring developments. In recent hours, the White House has denounced the Ayatollah regime's crackdown on protesters, but all it has done is galvanise Tehran, which accuses external actors of promoting the demonstrations.
Reformist leaders Mostafa Tajzadeh and Emad Sharghi, activist Narges Mohammadi and renowned film director Jafar Panahi are other prominent guests in a sinister compound that has been at the centre of the international community's denunciations. Arbitrary detention practices, torture and other serious human rights violations have been commonplace in Evin since the establishment of the Islamic Republic in 1979. And even before that, during the despotic reign of the Shah of Persia, Mohammed Reza Pahlavi.
Once it was the Savak, the Shah's political police; now it is the Revolutionary Guards who use the prison to repress dissent. There is no mercy. This was revealed by Edalat-e Ali, the hacker group that leaked footage from inside the prison in August 2021 showing guards violently beating inmates.
