DUBAI, UAE (Iran) – Iranian prosecutors have opened criminal proceedings against six guards in the country’s famous Evin prison, justice reported on Tuesday, after leaking widespread abuses of detainees at the facility. lation last week.
The three-day justice investigation into ill-treatment and miserable conditions at Tehran’s Evin Prison landed “some” prison guards, said justice spokesman Zabihollah Khodaeian. Authorities also summoned two guards and punished others, Khodaeian said, without detailing the sanctions or identifying the suspects.
The revelation comes days after The Associated Press released parts of the videos and a report on the abuses at the northern Tehran facility, long known for holding political prisoners and those with ties to the West whom Iran uses as bargaining chips in international negotiations. An online account, allegedly by a group of self-described hackers, shared images of the incident, as well as parts of other surveillance videos he confiscated.
“The scenes shown in the published films were against the law and not justifiable in any case,” Khodaeian said, noting that the leaked clips had been selected and edited from different scenes over the years.
In one part of the footage, a man breaks a bathroom mirror to try to cut off his arm. Prisoners – and even guards – beat each other in scenes captured by surveillance cameras. Inmates sleeping in single rooms with bunk beds stacked three high against the walls, wrapping themselves in blankets to keep warm.
Iranian justice ordered an investigation into the abuse last week after the head of the country’s prison system acknowledged the videos were real, expressing contrition and saying he claimed responsibility for “unacceptable behavior.”
Since its construction in 1971 under the Shah of Iran, the prison has seen a number of abuses that continued in the Islamic Republic.