The families of Iranian political prisoners who were beaten in Ward 350 of Evin Prison joined together with a group of activists to gather in front of the President’s Office on Tuesday April 22 and call for a probe into the attack on the prisoners.
The Kaleme website reports that protesters chanted slogans urging action from the administration and denouncing statements from Justice Minister Mostafa Pour Mohammadi.
Pour Mohammadi said earlier that during an inspection of prisoners by security personnel from Ward 350, “there was some slight soreness and injuries, and preliminary reports indicate that it involved no more than one or two people that were treated on foot.”
In general, other than the Minister of Justice, no member of the Rohani Administration has addressed the incident.
The Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) reports that the protests began at 10 AM and continued until 1 PM with close to 100 participants. The families of the political prisoners have reportedly prepared a letter of complaint addressed to the Head of Judiciary Ayatollah Larijani and the cabinet, which has been delivered to the respective officials.
The families had also staged another protest on Sunday in front of Parliament.
Last Thursday, the Kaleme website reported, following a prison inspection, officials from the ministry of intelligence and Revolutionary Guards Intelligence along with more than 100 soldiers on prison guard duty attacked Ward 350 of Evin Prison, beating more than 30 prisoners and causing serious injuries.
Many of the prisoners were reportedly transferred to solitary confinement. HRANA reports that these prisoners have now been returned to the general ward.
Twelve political prisoners from the Ward have announced that they are going on a hunger strike to protest “the unprecedented violent treatment” they have been getting from prison authorities; however, the head of the country’s Prison Organization, Gholamhossein Esmaili, who had previously denied the attack, has now been quoted as saying: “The prisoner hunger strike is either false or I have not been informed of it.”
