Forty-one Iranian political prisoners from section 350 of Evin Prison have signed a document that says they witnessed signs of torture and beatings on the body of Sattar Beheshti, the jailed political prisoner who was killed while in custody this week.
In a letter that was published on the Kaleme opposition website, the 41 signatories write that Sattar Beheshti passed through section 350 of Evin Prison on October 31 and November 1, and they all saw his “painful physical and mental condition” and, therefore, feel a responsibility to inform the public about his fate.
Beheshti, an Iranian blogger, was arrested by Iran’s cyber police on October 30 and was taken to section 350 of Evin Prison two days later. He reportedly wrote a letter to the head of the prison, giving details of his torture at the hands of his detainers and expressing grave concern about being recalled for further interrogations at the end of the two days, telling the prisoners in sections 350 that “they plan to kill [me].”
The prisoners report that his entire body showed evidence of torture such as bruises, sores and swellings.
They write: “In recent years and following the 2009 election in Iran, many detainees were subjected to torture by security and cyber police and many past and current inmates in section 350 have experienced this kind of abuse, and we testify that on many occasions we have seen inmates tortured by security police in section 350 of Evin Prison.”
