DUBAI, UAE – The head of the Iranian prison system acknowledged on Tuesday that videos allegedly obtained by a group of hackers described as abusing the famous Islamic Republic prison in Evin are real, saying who assumed responsibility for “unacceptable behaviors.”
Mohammad Mehdi Hajmohammadi’s comment came the day after The Associated Press released parts of the videos and a report on the abuse 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.
Writing on Twitter, Hajmohammadi vowed to “avoid the repetition of these bitter incidents and confront the perpetrators.”
“My apologies to God Almighty, to the beloved Supreme Leader, to our great nation and to the noble officers of prisons whose efforts will not be ignored because of the wrongdoings” of others, he wrote.
State television in Iran also reported on Hajmohammadi’s statements.
Hajmohammadi, however, offered no plan on how to address the abuses in Evin. Since its construction in 1971 under the Shah of Iran, the prison has seen a number of abuses that continued in the Islamic Republic.
After Iran repressed protesters after the disputed re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2009, many of the arrested protesters ended up in Evin. Lawmakers later pushed for reforms in Evin, following reports of prison abuses, which led to the installation of closed-circuit cameras.
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.
Four former prisoners of Evin, as well as an Iranian human rights activist abroad, told the AP that the videos resemble areas of the facility north of Tehran. Some of the scenes also matched photographs of the facility previously taken by journalists, as well as images of the prison, as seen in the satellite photos accessed by the AP.
An online account that shared the videos with the AP is called “Ali’s Justice,” a reference to the son-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad, revered by Shiites. He also mocks Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei. However, the account did not answer questions from the PA about its membership or how it carried out the hacking.
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Follow Jon Gambrell on Twitter at www.twitter.com/jongambrellAP.