Judicial Officials Admit to Killing of 5 Prisoners During April Prison Protests at Ahvaz Central Prison

More than four months after widespread prison protests following the outbreak and spread of coronavirus in Iranian prisons in mid-April, Islamic Republic judicial officials have admitted that 5 prisoners were killed during protests at Ahvaz Central Prison.

Karim Dahimi, a human rights activist, told Voice of America that at least 70 prisoners held in Ahvaz Central Prison (known as Shiban Prison) on the first of July faced charges from Branch 101 of the Two-County Criminal Court headed by Judge Mansour Motamedzadeh with serious accusations including “disrupting public order and peace through commotion and uproar – causing the death of 4 Muslim men” and “participation in crimes: intentional destruction and burning of public property, disruption of public order and causing the death of 5 prisoners.” These prisoners had protested on April 12 in objection to lack of medical care and concerns about the widespread spread of coronavirus and were detained.

According to Dahimi, these prisoners are facing charges for killing 5 other prisoners, while previously obtained information showed only 15 deaths at Sepiddar Prison in Ahvaz had been reported, and there was no statistics on deaths of prisoners at Ahvaz Central Prison. This is the first time judicial officials have admitted that a number of prisoners were killed in this prison, but so far none of the officials have been accountable for these killings in these two Ahvaz prisons.

Dahimi told Voice of America: “Some of these prisoners objected to the charges previously communicated to them by the First Branch of the Revolutionary Prosecution in Bavy, but these charges were confirmed by the Two-County Criminal Court of Bavy and are currently endangering the lives of some of these prisoners who are generally serving sentences of execution, life imprisonment, and long-term prison sentences.”

Following unrest in Iranian prisons following the outbreak of coronavirus, official reports and news published on social networks indicated unrest in some Iranian prisons including Mahabad, Adel Abad Shiraz, Sepiddar Prison in Ahvaz, prisons in Alborz, Tabriz, Saqqez, and Hamadan; protests that took place due to concerns about the health conditions of these prisons’ wards.

This human rights activist told Voice of America: “Among these prisoners who were detained in protests solely due to lack of medical facilities in light of the presence of coronavirus disease, there are also political prisoners, security cases, and Sunni prisoners. After their arrest, they were initially taken to an unknown location for several days and then transferred to solitary confinement in Shiban Prison and were punished for several days. It is currently unknown what sentence will be issued for them with this case fabrication against them.”

Following these protests, Amnesty International also reacted to the prisoners’ protests at Shiban Prison following the outbreak of coronavirus and the negligence of officials which ended with violent intervention by security forces and shooting prisoners with pellet bullets, and called for the release of all prisoners of conscience.