Forty-one Iranian political prisoners in section 350 of Evin Prison have written a letter to protest the transfer of Abolfazl Abedini, the person who is “the most informed” about the alleged torture of Sattar Beheshti by his interrogators.
The letter indicates that Abedini was transferred to Ahvaz Prison in southwestern Iran after he made a statement to the Tehran criminal court investigator regarding his knowledge of what happened to Sattar Beheshti, the detained blogger who by many reports died under torture after being arrested by the cyber police in Tehran.
The letter, signed by 41 prisoners of section 350 of Evin Prison, says: “After the cruel murder of Sattar Beheshti, the Tehran criminal court investigator came to Evin Prison on Tuesday, November 13, 2012, and posed a number of questions to a few individuals in section 350. One such individual was Abolfazl Abedini, an imprisoned Green Movement activist who had the most communication with Sattar Beheshti while the deceased was in this section. Sattar Beheshti had described the details of his torture and mistreatment by the security police to Mr. Abedini.”
The letter also indicates that the investigators had assured Abedini that none of the information he was providing regarding Beheshti’s fate in prison would be used against Abedini himself. However, on Thursday morning, November 15, 2012, prison officials removed Abolfazl Abedini from section 350.
At the time of his transfer, Abedini reportedly told his cellmates that he would go on a hunger strike to protest his removal.
The same signatories had issued a previous letter last week to let it be known that they had seen signs of torture on Sattar Beheshti’s body when the jailed blogger was in section 350, a few days before his death.
Sattar Beheshti was arrested on October 30 for his anti-government blog and entries on Facebook. Five days later, his family was informed by prison authorities that he had died in custody. The 41 political prisoners in section 350, as well as a letter of complaint written in Beheshti’s own hand, allege that he was subjected to severe torture at the hands of the cyber police which subsequently led to his death.
After widespread outrage in both domestic and international media, Parliament and the judiciary have begun probes into Beheshti death.
A number of people have been charged so far and are currently free on bail. The coroner has confirmed that the body of the deceased bore some signs of torture.
