At Tehran’s infamous Evin prison on Saturday night, violence broke out as the protest movement launched by Mahsa Amini’s murder in captivity began its fifth week.
The northern Tehran jail, which also houses international detainees, is notorious for mistreating political prisoners. There have apparently been hundreds of people transferred there who were detained during the protests over Amini’s death.
In video footage posted on Twitter by the Oslo-based Iran Human Rights, flames and a plume of smoke could be seen billowing into the night sky, and the sound of what seemed to be gunfire could be heard.
According to the 1500tasvir social media channel, which tracks protests and police misconduct, a “explosion was heard” from the prison and “a fire is growing in Evin prison,” according to a tweet from the operation.
In the backdrop of the footage, one could hear chants of “Death to the dictator,” one of the key catchphrases of a month-long protest movement that erupted upon Amini’s passing.
Amini, 22, passed away on September 16 after going into a coma three days earlier after being detained by Iran’s infamous morality police for allegedly breaking the country’s severe clothing code for women.
Early on Sunday, Iranian state television reported that the fire in the prison started during “riots and fights” had been put out.
The IRNA news agency quoted a Tehran prosecutor as saying that things were now calm and the skirmishes had “nothing to do with the recent unrest in the country.” In least eight injuries were reported at the jail by IRNA earlier.
Families’ anxiety
Foreign inmates at the Evin jail include the French-Iranian professor Fariba Adelkhah and the US citizen Siamak Namazi, who, according to his family, was recently temporarily released before being returned to detention.
In response to news of the fire, Namazi’s family expressed their “great concern” and lack of communication in a statement to AFP that was provided by their attorney.
Female protest leaders
After irate protesters had taken to the streets across Iran on Saturday despite internet cuts, rights groups reported late-night demonstrations in solidarity with Evin inmates in Tehran.
The most significant wave of public protests to hit the nation in years has been led by young women.
In a video that went viral online, women without hijabs at a rally at Tehran’s Shariati Technical and Vocational College screamed, “Guns, tanks, fireworks; the mullahs must be lost.”
In video that AFP authenticated, dozens of jeering and whistling protestors attacked security personnel near a prominent roundabout in Hamedan, a city west of Tehran.
