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Satellite photos show damage to Evin Prison

Television said the fire had started in a garment factory, Iran’s Attorney General Golam Hossein Moseni Ejehi reiterated on Monday. He blamed “enemy agents” for the incident. Iran has portrayed all the domestic unrest as fomented by the United States, Israel and other countries Iran sees as enemies.

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Earlier on Monday, Iran’s judiciary raised the fire death toll to eight after initially reporting four deaths over the weekend.

Authorities have blamed a “rioter” for the arson, but have not said what action was taken against prisoners at the scene. A video of the fire claims to show people on the roof of the building first throwing liquid into the flames. Gunshots apparently echo through other videos, including what appears to be some sort of ordinance being thrown into the prison complex, followed by the sound of an explosion.

As the fire grew, one video included voices shouting “Death to the dictator!” That cry against Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has become common at night in Tehran amid protests, despite the risk of a death sentence in a closed revolutionary court.

Evin Prison in northern Tehran, bordering the foothills of the Alborz Mountains, was first opened in 1972 under the Iranian Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. After the 1979 Islamic Revolution, the Iranian Theocracy took over the facility. Iran’s militia, the Revolutionary Guards, caters only to Ayatollah Khamenei and operates its own cells in the complex, as does Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence, which reports directly to the Iranian president.

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Guards usually accommodate dual nationals and people with Western ties. Prisoners are often used in exchanges with the West.Jason Lezaian washington post A journalist detained in Iran for 544 days on suspicion of vulnerable espionage was detained there before being released as Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers came into force.

“Evin is no ordinary prison,” Rezaian wrote on Twitter, sharing a video of this weekend’s fire. I spent so long trapped in a place where I was denied the basic right to speak.”

Australia’s Kylie Moore Gilbert Incarcerated in Evin PrisonMoore-Gilbert, who was released from Evin in November 2020, said, “It looks absolutely terrifying.

State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel told reporters in Washington on Monday that three US Iranian citizens known to be detained at Evin Prison are safe. He didn’t say where the information came from.

“U.S. citizens who have been wrongfully detained have been accounted for and they are safe,” he said, noting that they remain in custody and their safety is relative given their imprisonment conditions. added.

Iran carries out executions in Evin as well as punishments such as mutilation, prescribed under Islamic law and ordered by the country’s hardline court system. Human rights activists have long documented abuses at the site. Last year, his account online, allegedly by an entity calling itself a group of hackers, leaked to the AP a series of videos showing prison battles and grueling conditions.

Widespread protests now rocking Iran erupted following public outrage over the death of 22-year-old Amini in police custody. She was arrested by the Iranian morality police in Tehran for violating the Islamic Republic’s strict dress code. The Iranian government claims Amini was not mistreated in police custody, but her family said her body had bruises and other signs of beatings after she was taken into custody. ing.

Human rights groups have so far estimated that more than 200 people have died in the protests and subsequent violent security force crackdown. Iran has not released a death toll in weeks. Demonstrations were seen in more than 100 cities, according to a group of Iranian human rights activists. Thousands are believed to have been arrested.

Meanwhile, the European Union (EU) on Monday sanctioned 11 Iranian officials and four Iranian organizations, imposing travel bans and freezing assets, alleging they were involved in cracking down on protests.

APs

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Satellite photos show damage to Evin Prison

Source link Satellite photos show damage to Evin Prison

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