Alireza Shir-Mohammad-Ali, 21, murdered in Greater Tehran Penitentiary

Political prisoner Alireza Shir-Mohammad-Ali, 21, was stabbed to death by two inmates in the notorious Greater Tehran’s Penitentiary on Monday, June 10, 2019.

Alireza Shir-Mohammad-Ali was from Tehran’s Naziabad district in south Tehran. He had been arrested and detained in July 2018. He had been sentenced to 8 years in prison for insulting Khomeini and Khamenei, the mullahs’ leaders, and for anti-regime propaganda.

Political prisoners Alireza Shir-Mohammad-Ali and Barzan Mohammadi had been on hunger strike since March 14, 2019 until April 16, 2019, demanding separation of prisoners of different categories. They also protested the dire living and health conditions in Greater Tehran’s Penitentiary and lack of security in prison.

According to an informed source, Mohammadreza Khalilzadeh, convicted on narcotic drug related charges, and death-row convict Hamidreza Shojazadeh, accused of deliberate murder, attacked Alireza Shir-Mohammad-Ali on Monday, June 10, 2019, and viciously stabbed him at least 40 times.

The two convicts had been recruited by prison authorities to incite a fight in the ward where Alireza Shir-Mohammad-Ali and his fellow inmate Barzan Mohammadi were being detained. As planned, no guards were in the ward when the fight broke out. Prison authorities had already disconnected the phones in this ward to successfully carry out their plan, portraying the murder as a clash among inmates.

Convicts Khalilzadeh and Shojazadeh stabbed Alireza Shir-Mohammad-Ali in the stomach and cut his main arteries. Barzan Mohammadi was also badly wounded. However, Mr. Shir-Mohammad-Ali lost his life before reaching Firouzabadi Hospital in Shahr-e Ray.

The Greater Tehran’s Penitentiary, also known as Fashafouyeh, is located 32 kms south of the capital. The prison was initially constructed as a concentration camp for drug-related convicts. However, political prisoners and prisoners of conscience are often sent to exile in this prison. There have been numerous reports about inhuman living conditions in this prison.

Last September, Gonabadi dervishes were brutalized in this prison for holding a protest sit-in against the beating of their wives and relatives in Qarchak Prison.

Political prisoner Soheil Arabi is also detained in this prison where he has been viciously beaten up by inmates a number of times.