COVID-19 Outbreak in Iranian Prisons and Problems for Inmates and Their Families; Islamic Republic Has Not Released Political and Ideological Prisoners
A large number of inmates in various prisons across Iran, including political and ideological prisoners whose sentences exceed 5 years, continue to be held in Iranian prisons. Despite the spread of the coronavirus in Iranian prisons and some inmates contracting the virus, they are denied the right to short-term furloughs or conditional release.
Bahfar Laleh Zari, a political activist and former political prisoner, said in an exclusive interview with Voice of America on Wednesday, April 16, while referring to the problems faced by inmates with the outbreak of coronavirus in Iranian prisons, that the absence or shortage of hygiene and medical supplies, overcrowding in Iranian prisons, drug shortages, and food rations that are mostly inedible are among the problems inside prisons that have long accompanied inmates, and currently, given the widespread outbreak of coronavirus in Iranian prisons, these problems have multiplied several times over.
However, on the other side of prison walls, problems have doubled for the families of inmates. On one hand, families are concerned about the health of the inmates, and on the other hand, visits under these circumstances carry high health risks.
This former political prisoner, whose spouse is currently incarcerated, tells Voice of America that weekly visits have increased the risk of families of inmates contracting this dangerous virus; visits that are conducted in a confined booth, and families of many inmates, including families of some political and ideological prisoners, are forced to travel long distances under such difficult conditions to visit their loved ones and by standing in the crowds that form in front of the prison on visiting days, they expose themselves to the risk of contracting this virus just to be able to visit inmates for a brief moment.
Reza Khandan, the spouse of Nasrin Sotoudeh, has also announced that “the judiciary continues to prevent the release of political prisoners,” and currently many families, despite the risk of contracting coronavirus, are wandering between visiting halls, prosecutor’s offices, and their homes.
On the other hand, Bani Dugal, senior representative of the Bahai community at the United Nations in New York, reported in an interview with the Persian section of Voice of America that approximately 50 to 100 Iranian Bahais remain imprisoned in crowded and unsanitary prisons in Iran.
Bahfar Laleh Zari also reacted in his interview with Voice of America to a new circular issued by Ebrahim Raisi, head of the judiciary, which was issued in early March of last year regarding the temporary release of some imprisoned inmates. He said that when the judiciary, faced with the outbreak of coronavirus in prisons and the dangers facing inmates, issues a new circular for conditional amnesty or granting furloughs to inmates, making distinctions and discriminations or assigning different values to human lives contradicts the spirit of the laws.
Based on official statistics, the number of coronavirus deaths in Iran has been reported as 4,777 and the number of infected cases as 76,389. According to this report, 1,512 new COVID-19 patients were identified in the country in the past 24 hours, and during this period, 94 COVID-19 patients lost their lives.
This is while the official statistics of Iran, China, and Russia are not subject to verification by independent experts and cannot be considered valid and final.
Meanwhile, an official from the World Health Organization has also said that the number announced by Iranian authorities regarding coronavirus cases is only one-fifth of the actual number of infected.
Source: Voice of America
