The current Chief Justice of Iran Ebrahim Raisi has ordered to open an investigation into the murder of a 21 years old political prisoner inside an Iranian prison.

Gholamhossein Esmaili, the Iranian Judiciary spokesperson announced that Raisi has ordered the “Prisons and Security and Corrective Measures Organization” and the “Prosecutor-General” to investigate the death of Alireza Shir Mohammad Ali.

A Mugshot of Alireza Shir Mohammad Ali

Alireza Shirmohammad Ali was a political prisoner who was stabbed to death in the Greater Tehran Central Penitentiary, known as Fashafoyeh prison in Tehran by two other inmates. The alleged killers of Alireza both had been convicted of dangerous crimes including murder.

According to the Iranian law, prisons must divide prisoners based on the nature of their convictions.

This death has sparked lots of reactions inside and outside Iran. Human rights activists and lawyers say that holding the inmates convicted of dangerous crimes alongside the political prisoners is unlawful and the separation of prisoners based on the type of crime is not being enforced.

“This was a preventable death and resulted from a gross negligence on the part of the authorities”, said Hadi Ghaemi executive director of Center for Human Rights in Iran. “The judiciary has been repeatedly warned of the dangers of its failure to separate political prisoners from inmates convicted of violent crimes.”

The State prisons and security and corrective measures organization issued a statement and said that separating the prisoners based on their crime is a routine practice in Iranian prisons and this incident happened at a time of the break and when the prisoners were in the courtyard.