Iran prison chief apologizes for abuse videos

TEHRAN, Iran

In a rare admission, the newly-appointed head of Iranian prisons Tuesday tendered an apology for “bitter events” inside Tehran’s Evin Prison after leaked videos showed prisoners being ill-treated.

Accepting the responsibility for what he termed “unacceptable behavior” from the prison staff, Mohammad Mehdi Hajmohammadi vowed to “deal seriously with wrongdoers” and “prevent the repeat of such bitter events”.

It comes a day after leaked CCTV footages shared on social media showed male prisoners being dragged and beaten up by uniformed jail staff members inside the prison.

Some videos showed prisoners and guards hitting each other inside the prison compound.

The videos from the prison’s surveillance cameras were posted on social media by a local hacking group calling itself “Edalat e Ali” (Ali’s justice). It instantly led to a massive backlash.

The hacking group said the release of the leaked footage was meant to show the grim conditions at the Evin Prison, located in a posh neighborhood of Tehran.

“Regarding the images from Evin prison, I accept responsibility for such unacceptable behavior and vow to try to prevent the repeat of such bitter events and to deal seriously with the wrongdoers,” Hajmohammadi posted on his Twitter.

He further “apologized” to “the God Almighty, our dear leader (Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei), the nation and honorable prison guards.”

Ali Naderi, a senior journalist and a close aide to President Ebrahim Raeisi, termed the remarks “compassionate” and said “many efforts” have been made recently to “protect the rights of prisoners” and to “improve (the conditions) of prisons” following Hajmohammadi’s appointment.

However, the leaked video from the country’s top prison that was constructed in 1972 by the former ruler of Iran has reignited the debate about grim conditions in Iranian prisons.

Evin Prison, which has housed a number of high-profile political prisoners, was blacklisted by the US government in 2018 for “serious human rights abuses”.

Reacting to the leaked video, the deputy chief of Iranian judiciary Mohammad Mosadeq Kahnamoie said the “matter is being investigated” and results are likely to be announced tomorrow.