Ewin detention center in Iran: dead and injured after prison fire

According to the Iranian judiciary, four prisoners were killed and more than 60 injured in a major fire in the notorious Ewin prison in Tehran. The prison holds political prisoners – including participants in the recent protests.

According to the Iranian authorities, four prisoners were killed and 61 others injured in the fire in Ewin prison in Tehran. The circumstances were initially not further described by the official side. Human rights organizations had already feared victims in the notorious prison during the night.

Video released by Iran Human Rights showed flames and a plume of smoke over the prison, and gunfire appeared to be heard. “Death to the dictator” chants could be heard in the background of the video. The organization also reported on Twitter that numerous people had made their way to the prison on foot. A video posted by Iran Human Rights showed a road and driveways clogged with cars.

Australian-British scientist Kylie Moore-Gilbert, herself a prisoner in Ewin Prison, said all the women in the political prisoners’ unit were, according to her information, unharmed. What about other inmates is unclear.

According to the official Iranian account, it was an internal conflict in the prison. However, the information could not be independently verified. Videos shared thousands of times on social media showed chaotic images surrounding the prison. According to the Iranian news agency Irna, the prison administration said “hooligans and rioters” had started a dispute with the prison guards and then also set fire to the prison’s textile warehouse. The fire brigade have since extinguished the fire.

Tehran’s prosecutor stressed that the incident was an “internal conflict in prison between convicted thieves”. He denied any connection to the ongoing anti-system protests that have spread like wildfire across the country for four weeks.

“Shots are being fired while Ewin burns,” wrote researcher Roham Alvandi of the London School of Economics on Twitter. “Should political prisoners perish there, it will be an incident on the scale of the ‘Cinema Rex’ fire in Abadan in August 1978 which hastened the overthrow of the Shah.”

Around 400 people were killed in an arson attack on the “Cinema Rex”. The incident on the eve of the Iranian revolution sparked protests against the shah, even though the background to the attack was never clarified.

Spontaneous protests in German cities

In Berlin, shortly after midnight, several hundred Iranian exiles met in front of the Foreign Office in Berlin-Mitte to protest against the conditions in Iran and especially in Ewin prison. The demonstrators in Berlin called on the western states to act. In Frankfurt and Hamburg, too, several people spontaneously gathered in front of the Iranian Consulates General late in the evening.

US State Department concerned

The US was concerned about the dramatic situation in Ewin prison. “We are following the reports from Ewin Prison with great urgency,” US State Department spokesman Ned Price wrote on Twitter. “Iran has full responsibility for the safety of our unjustly detained citizens who should be released immediately.” Several US citizens are being held in the prison.

Responding to reports of the unrest and fire, the family of US citizen Siamak Namazi said they were “deeply concerned” and had not heard from Namazi. The sister of another US citizen detained in the prison wrote on Twitter that she was “sick with worry”.

Human rights activists criticize the conditions

The Ewin prison in northern Tehran is considered to have the worst prison conditions in Iran. Human rights groups have long criticized the conditions there. There are many political prisoners in the prison.

Hundreds of demonstrators arrested during the protests of the past few weeks are said to have been taken to Ewin prison, including many students from Tehran’s Sharif University. “They turned Tehran into a prison and Ewin prison into a university,” students chanted recently, as can be heard in a video posted online.

Former international Hossein Mahini was also reportedly held in solitary confinement in Ewin prison in early October after he was arrested for expressing solidarity with the insurgent women’s movement. According to a media report, he was released from custody on bail equivalent to 30,000 euros.

The protests in Iran continued on Saturday. At a demonstration at Shariati University in the capital Tehran, women without headscarves shouted slogans such as “The mullahs should go away!”, according to a video distributed on the Internet. Other protests were reported from Isfahan and Kermanshah, among others.

With information from Karin Senz, ARD Studio Istanbul