A group of female political prisoners incarcerated in Iran's notorious Evin prison have published a letter expressing concern about the conditions they endure at the institution.
Signed by Hasti Amiri, Narges Adib, Fariba Asadi, Sepideh Gholian, Gelareh Abbasi, Saba Kordafshari, Alieh Motlebzadeh, Narges Mohammadi, and other prisoners, the letter emphasizes concerns over a sharp rise in the number of inmates and worries about the spread of the coronavirus in the women's ward.
The signatories to the letter noted that the lack of suitable space for isolating and quarantining infected inmates is endangering the lives of everyone in the prison.
The Evin prison -- and many other penal institutions in Iran -- has a long history of poor conditions.
In March, hacktivist group Edalat-e Ali, which claims to work inside Iran to expose the "true face of the regime," released video footage highlighting inhumane conditions in the country's most-notorious prison.
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Leaked Video Exposes Extreme Conditions In Notorious Iranian Prison
The footage, provided exclusively to RFE/RL's Radio Farda by Edalat-e Ali (Ali's Justice), shows prisoners lying wall to wall on floors and stacked three-high on metal bunk beds. As the camera moves from open cell to open cell, each equipped with beds for about 30 inmates, it reveals rooms filled with up to 50 inmates.
Previous videos, which were hacked from CCTV cameras and published by Radio Farda among other media outlets in 2021, have shown prison guards assaulting detainees and inhumane conditions at the facility.
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Tehran Prison Abuse Revealed In Security Footage Leak
Documents leaked by the hacktivist group have detailed how Evin prison authorities took harsh steps to break hunger strikes by prominent prisoners, including the denial of visitation rights and blocking phone access.
The videos prompted the head of Iran's Prisons Organization to issue an apology and take responsibility for the "unacceptable behavior" at the prison, while judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei ordered an investigation.