Five prison guards convicted of "negligence" in Saqqez prisoner escape

Mojtaba Shiroud Bozorgy, head of the judicial organization of the Kurdistan Province Armed Forces, announced on Wednesday that five prison guards at Saqqez Central Prison were convicted of "negligence" during the escape of dozens of prisoners.

Following the widespread spread of the coronavirus in Iran and the granting of leave to a number of prisoners and the deprivation of many others, the Saqqez Central Prison in Kurdistan Province witnessed a prisoner riot and the escape of 74 of them. Human rights groups say that hundreds of prisoners were being held in unsanitary conditions at the Saqqez Central Prison, and the prisoners and their families were concerned that the prisoners would contract the virus.

Regarding the escape of prisoners, Mojtaba Shiroud Bozorgy said that as a result of "the negligence of a number of prison guards at Saqqez Prison, the internal and external guard officers, and the atmosphere that arose as a result of pressure and aggression among prisoners, conditions were created for the abuse of some prisoners and the escape of 74 prisoners."

According to him, the individuals responsible for the incident were "identified" and an indictment was issued against them after additional investigations.

The head of the judicial organization of the Kurdistan Province Armed Forces, noting that "six volumes of cases were filed in this regard," stated: "Various hearings were held in this case, as a result of which five people were convicted, but the possibility of appeal is still available for them."

The armed forces judicial official did not mention the extent of the convictions of these individuals and did not identify the identities of the convicted individuals.

Mustafa Salimi was among the prisoners who escaped from Saqqez Central Prison with another group of prisoners, but a few days later he was arrested in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region and handed over to Iran, and his death sentence was carried out two weeks later in Saqqez Prison.

Mustafa Salimi was 53 years old and from the village of Ilo in Saqqez County. He was arrested in April 2003 and sentenced to death by Branch 1 of the Saqqez Revolutionary Court on charges of "moharebeh" and "membership in Kurdish opposition parties," a sentence that was confirmed by the Supreme Court.

Source: Radio Farda