New waves of prison riots were reported in several prisons across Iran on Sunday and Monday amid coronavirus outbreak, eyewitnesses told Avatoday.
According to a video received by Avatoday from the Arab dominated city of Ahvaz, detainees at the city’s Sepidar prison tried to escape.
“Detainees are running away, a riot has occurred,” the man who recorded the video said, adding that security forces just arrived at the sight.
Avatoday found out that several detainees managed to escape from the prison.
On late Sunday, prisoners in Adelabad Prison in Shiraz had also attempted to escape.
Videos received by Avatoday show security forces inside the prison. Eyewitness told Avatoday that they heard gunshots.
Security forces in the northeastern city of Mashhad blocked surrounding streets of the city’s main prison, Vakilabad.
Dozens of detainees in the Kurdish city of Mahabad managed to escape on Saturday night. Two prisoners were reportedly killed, and several others wounded by security forces.
Similar attempts were reported from separate prisons in Tehran, Hamadan and Mashhad earlier this week.
On Thursday, security forces repelled another prison break in Tabriz.
On March 19, some 23 detainees escaped from Parsilon Prison in Lorestan’s Khorramabad, one prisoner was killed and one wounded.
On March 24, another prison break reported in Aligudarz’s prison in Khorramabad. A video received by Avatoday shows security shooting detainees.
The prison breaks came after Iranian officials on March 17 announced that they have temporarily released 85,000 prisoners including political detainees.
State media also reported on March 18 that Islamic Republic leader Ali Khamenei would pardon 10,000 prisoners among them “the security-related prisoners with less than five-year jail sentences.”
Amnesty International in mid-March called on the Iranian authorities “to immediately and unconditionally release all prisoners of conscience,” amid Coronavirus outbreak in the country.
Avatoday sources in several prisons across Iran said that the situation inside prisons are critical as detainees suffer from shortage of sanitary supplies.
A source in the Iranian Health Ministry also said, “until now, more than ten prisoners died of coronavirus and tens more diagnosed.”
Political detainees in Iran made an announcement in March 10, asking World Health Organization to visit the country’s prisons to prevent a “human catastrophe.’’
