Concerns Over Coronavirus Outbreak in Iran’s Prisons; After Sanandaj Prison, This Time ‘Unrest’ Reported in Hamadan Prison
Amid ongoing unrest in Iran’s prisons due to concerns about coronavirus spread, some domestic Iranian media outlets reported ‘clashes’ at Hamadan city prison, but hours later the Hamadan prosecutor denied the claim.
The IRNA news agency wrote on Sunday, April 10, that “following clashes between inmates in this city’s prison, provincial officials are working to restore calm to the facility.”
The news agency did not specify the cause of the clashes and wrote that “no information or speculation has been obtained regarding inmate escapes,” but hours later Hassan Khanjani, the Hamadan prosecutor, denied what he called “riots” and stated that “inmates set fire to several blankets on the pretext of the coronavirus outbreak and there were no riots at Hamadan prison.”
Khanjani added that not even one inmate escaped from prison and all inmates are in their cells.
Concerns about the health conditions in the prison’s wards were cited as the reason for this unrest. Previously, 74 inmates in Sanandaj had escaped from prison due to concerns about coronavirus spread.
Kurdistan’s judicial authorities announced that so far “10 of the fugitives have been arrested and two have turned themselves in.”
Concerns about coronavirus spread in Iran’s prisons come as human rights media reports indicated that by Wednesday, March 27, at least three inmates at Orumiyeh Central Prison and six other inmates at Tehran’s Grand Prison died after contracting the coronavirus.
Human rights network Hengaw also reported in another statement that on Wednesday, March 27, an inmate from the women’s ward of Orumiyeh Central Prison, whose identity remained unconflosed until now, and two other inmates named Hossein Javadi and Fariq Mohammadi died in recent days after contracting the virus.
It should be noted that Voice of America cannot independently verify the released information regarding the number of deaths from the coronavirus outbreak in Iran’s prisons.
Mike Pompeo, U.S. Secretary of State, said on Wednesday, March 27 at a press conference: “We have asked not only Syria, but also the Islamic Republic of Iran to release not only American citizens, but all those who have been unjustly imprisoned in these circumstances. This is a humanitarian act and aside from the fact that these individuals were illegally imprisoned, in these circumstances humanitarian principles dictate they should be released from prison.”
Nevertheless, a large number of inmates in various prisons in Iran, including political and ideological prisoners with sentences exceeding five years, remain in detention in Iranian prisons.
Source: Voice of America
