Recent Unrest Detainees: Authorities Conducting Screening

Iranian officials say “mercenaries” have confessed and the number of detainees to be released in coming days will be announced. Uncertainty about the fate of many detainees continues. The Prosecutor General says all detainees are satisfied.

A few days ago, a journalist from Iran knocked on the window of communication with the world and tweeted: “Tap tap, hello free world … I used 42 proxies to write this. Millions of Iranians have no internet. Can you hear our voice?”

They heard his voice. News came that the author of the tweet, Mohammad Massaed, had been arrested. This journalist is one of hundreds or perhaps thousands of detainees in recent days in connection with or related to recent unrest in Iran. Police say they have arrested 180 of the main leaders. Other reports indicate the arrest of at least close to 5,000 people in 12 provinces of the country.

There is neither accurate statistics on detainees nor has any specific organization so far taken responsibility for recent arrests.

Detainees: Protesters and Rioters

Iranian officials speak of rioters who, with “American instigation and hypocrites,” have engaged in destruction of public property and killing. General Ali Fadavi, Deputy Commander of the Revolutionary Guards, says: “God says in the Quran, do not approach people’s property because people are reluctant to give it to you, and if you insist on taking their property, their enmity will emerge.”

The Deputy Commander of the Revolutionary Guards said “the initial moments were popular protests and then a bunch of ruffians entered the arena.” In interviews with domestic websites, he speaks of rioters who “using light pistols shot at the abdomen of many people from a distance of one meter or half a meter and killed people.” General Fadavi assured: “We have arrested all planted agents and mercenaries who openly confess that they are mercenaries of America and hypocrites, and the country’s judicial system will impose the strictest punishments on them.”

Officials also say the line of rioters is separate from protesters.

Hearing this sentence, the first question that comes to mind is if “connections of planted agents and mercenaries” have been proven and they have been identified, what is the status of Mohammad Massaeds, students who in recent days according to published reports have been arrested and some have been taken by ambulance to unknown locations, people who went to the streets to protest their livelihood situation? Are they protesters or rioters? Mostafa Tajzadeh on Twitter, referring to the unclear nature of charges, court rulings, and the security body responsible for the arrest, writes about detained students: “From a hidden government, we have reached hidden arrests.”

Officials say they are in the process of screening.

Ali Asghar Jahangiri, Head of the Prison Organization, in an interview with ILNA, said all branches of the judiciary have begun necessary measures for detained individuals to be quickly determined.

Iran’s Prosecutor General: All Detainees are Satisfied with Their Detention Conditions

Domestic news agencies yesterday (2 Azar) reported on the Prosecutor General’s visit to recent unrest detainees at Fashafuyeh Prison. Fars published a detailed report of this visit. In this report, we read that the Prosecutor General speaks with detainees who are mostly “young and of young age”; a 23-year-old young man who, according to himself, was arrested for blocking roads and identifying his car’s license plate and says he had neither a way back nor a way forward, another 20-year-old young man who says “interrogators threatened some of his cellmates”, a 19-year-old student detained at home and according to Fars reportedly claimed that “officers told him we need more detainees, we should arrest you too”, a 30-year-old young man who says he was watching and “was shot by rioters” and a young man who says “they forced those with blindfolded eyes and faces to confess.” The Prosecutor General, according to Fars, listens to all of them and promises many that the issue will be investigated so their status becomes clear sooner, and of course advises them to identify their leaders.

According to Fars, in this visit, the Prosecutor General asked “each” prisoner about their food situation and contact with their families and awareness of their status, and the detainees responded: “Yes, we have spoken with our families by phone several times.”

“We Will Do All We Can to Prevent Any Problems for the Detainees”

In the report mentioned, reference was also made to a 10-person emergency team stationed at Fashafuyeh Prison to “if needed, outpatient procedures are performed at this location, and if detainees happen to have wounds on their bodies, strong antibiotics are prescribed to control and prevent infection.” This personnel told the Prosecutor General that they have visited 200 people in these few days, among whom 42 were injured and 12 were wounded.

The Head of the Prison Organization assured that the incidents that occurred in Kahrizak in 2009 will not happen this time, saying: “The 2009 incidents were in a facility that was not under the control of the judiciary and the prison organization.” This official continued that they are doing all they can to prevent any problems for the detainees and, addressing their families, says: “To inquire about detainees, you must contact the relevant judicial branches.”

With internet connection, but on social networks, news of uncertainty about the status and detention location of many detainees and long lists of names of those arrested in recent days in various Iranian cities are being passed hand to hand.

Among them is the name of Mohammad Massaed who, on the internet, which according to General Fadavi is “a channel of American malice,” only wrote about internet shutdown, is one of the names on the long list of detainees that Iranian Islamic Republic officials now say they will announce the number of those released in coming days.