Prison guards at Urmia Central Prison attacked political prisoners’ wart on Tuesday September 15.
The attack followed protests by prisoners over poor conditions in their ward and constant power and water outages.
The prison guards attacked the inmates and ransacked their belongings under the pretext of a “routine inspection.”
Six prison guards and 15 members of an anti-riot unit were involved in the attack that started at 1 pm and continued until 4 pm in the afternoon.
The anti-riot guards unit, along with counter-intelligence agents led by an individual known as Mohammadi, an inspections officer by the name of Azar-Nia, the prison’s financial deputy Nouri, and prison warden Sohrabi entered the political prisoners’ ward and began ruthlessly attacking the inmates.
A number of the political prisoners were injured during this attack and all the ward’s doors and windows were broken. Reports indicate that following the attack the anti-riot guards unit remained ready outside the prison and ready for another possible attack under the pretext of quelling unrest.
All 48 political prisoners in this ward refused meals on Tuesday, to protest the attack.
According to numerous reports from informed sources, the prisoners are being held in very harsh conditions in this prison.
Critical deficiencies such as hot water, frequent water shortages, lack of space, inadequate electricity and electricity systems in prisons, broken sanitary facilities, inefficient sewage systems, and the failure of electronic equipment are issues that prisoners face on a daily basis.
On the other hand, the outbreak of the Coronavirus and the inaction of the authorities in this regard have aggravated the situation.
Earlier, on Saturday, June 20, doctors, nurses and medical staff left the prison due to the outbreak of virus and refused to come to work.
A source close to the family of one of the detainees stated that there was only one nurse in the prison’s clinic who was not willing to accept anyone.
