Narges Mohammadi: The Prisons Organization and the Judiciary are responsible for the murder of Alireza Shir Mohammad Ali
Narges Mohammadi, a prominent human rights activist who has been sentenced to 16 years in prison (10 years of the sentence are still in effect), published an open letter holding the Prisons Organization and the Judiciary responsible for the murder of political prisoner Alireza Shir Mohammad Ali.
Narges Mohammadi wrote in part of her letter: "The continuation of such murders and deaths will definitely continue without the supervision and inspection of independent and popular oversight bodies over the prison organization and the judicial system."
In response to widespread criticism regarding the murder of Shir Mohammad Ali, the Iranian Prisons Organization issued a statement on June 17, 2019, denying that he was being held alongside dangerous criminals and stated: “In addition to pursuing the crimes of the aforementioned defendants, the issue of possible negligence or fault of the officers and officials of the Greater Tehran Penitentiary Complex has been immediately ordered to be investigated, the results of which will be announced later.” The organization wrote in its statement: “The Greater Tehran Penitentiary Complex is currently holding a number of defendants and convicts of crimes against persons, crimes against property and ownership, and crimes against public security and peace, so it is not correct to suggest that the penitentiary is solely a place to hold dangerous prisoners.”
- Although Alireza Shirmohammad Ali’s lawyer previously told the Campaign for Human Rights in Iran that Shirmohammad Ali, a political prisoner, was murdered after months of illegal imprisonment in a section of the Greater Tehran Central Prison where prisoners convicted of dangerous crimes were housed. He told the Campaign for Human Rights in Iran on June 11, 2019, “Unfortunately, the principle of segregation of crimes has not been implemented in the Greater Tehran Prison and it is not a suitable place, especially for those held there as political prisoners. I met Alireza once in prison. He was a person of dialogue, not of conflict.”
According to Iranian law, prisoners must be segregated based on the nature and type of crime. According to Article 69 of the Executive Regulations of the Iranian Prisons and Correctional Institutions, “convicts are assigned to one of the sections of vocational training and employment centers, prisons, or correctional institutions based on their past record, age, gender, nationality, type of crime, length of sentence, physical and mental condition, personality and aptitude, and level of education and expertise.”
Alireza Shirmohammadi went on a hunger strike from March 13, 2018 to April 17, 2019 to protest the dangers in Fashafoyeh Prison.
Mohammad Hadi Erfanian Kasab, Alireza Shir Mohammad Ali's lawyer, said about his release order: "His appeals court was scheduled to be held on July 8, and we were very hopeful that he would be released on bail until the final verdict was issued, and we were even given promises."
The Prisons Organization has claimed that "in addition to pursuing the crimes of the aforementioned defendants, the issue of possible negligence or fault of the officers and officials of the Greater Tehran Penitentiary Complex has been immediately ordered to be investigated, the results of which will be announced later."
The text of Narges Mohammadi's letter, which was published on the website of the Center for Human Rights Defenders, is as follows:
The Prisons Organization and the Judiciary are responsible for the murder of Alireza Shir Mohammad Ali.
The news of the killing of a young political prisoner with 30 stab wounds in Fashafoyeh Prison by criminals and ordinary prisoners once again proves the incompetence of the officials of the judicial system and the prison organization and reminds us of the need for monitoring by independent and impartial institutions. In this regard, it is necessary to point out a few points:
1- Despite the fact that in recent years we have witnessed many suspicious deaths and murders of political prisoners in the country's prisons and detention centers, no impartial and competent court has been formed to investigate the aspects and causes of their occurrence, which is itself evidence of the lack of an independent and fair judicial system in the country.
2- In addition to the lack of follow-up and prosecution, what is worrying is the continuation of such murders and deaths, which will certainly continue due to the lack of oversight and inspection by independent and popular oversight bodies of the prison organization and the judicial system.
3- Ali Reza's murder occurred while he was serving his sentence in a regular prison ward, and this is also true for dozens of other prisoners. Zeinab Jalalian, a young Kurdish woman imprisoned in a general prison in Kurdistan, Sepideh Qolyan, a young 22-year-old girl, women dervishes, Marjan Davari, and others are being held in Qarchak prison among women with regular charges, and have been repeatedly warned and requested to be returned to the Evin women's ward, but this has not been heeded. This issue also exists for male dervishes in Fashafoyeh and political prisoners in Rajai Shahr, and it is a clear violation by the officials of the Prisons Organization and the judiciary.
Source: Iran Human Rights Campaign
