Iran Coronavirus Outbreak; The Mullahs Regime Is Murdering Political Prisoners With COVID-19

Political prisoners, as well as the entire Iranian society, are fighting two viruses: coronavirus and the regime’s rule.
Iran is one of the most vulnerable centers hit by coronavirus due to the regime’s negligence.
Based on eyewitness reports from Iran’s main prisons, all inmates are in grave danger. Coronavirus is spreading in the Greater Tehran, Rajaii-Shahr (Gohardasht-Karaj), Karaj Central, Qezel Hesar, Urmia, Sheiban, and Kashan prisons. Prisoners of conscience in Ahvaz, Zahedan, Qouchan, and Sanandaj have contracted coronavirus.
The Iranian regime has exploited the coronavirus crisis to heighten pressure on political prisoners and even have them killed in secret, according to reports from inmates’ relatives.
Scores of people arrested during the nationwide November 2019 protests are in eminent danger. The 5th ward of Greater Tehran Prison is allocated to such inmates. Several among them are already infected with COVID-19.
On Friday, February 28, Amnesty International called for urgent action to save the lives of three such protestors: Amir Hossein Moradi, Saeed Tamjidi, and Mohammad Rajabi. The three did not receive adequate due process and have been tortured.
Amir Hossein Moradi, 25 and sentenced to death, has contracted coronavirus in ward 2 of Greater Tehran Prison.

On March 18, a group of political prisoners in Greater Tehran Prison (Fashafuyeh) launched a hunger strike protesting the regime’s deliberate refusal to take necessary measures and prevent the COVID-19 spread among prisoners. The move comes as Iran is grappling with a COVID-19 epidemic due to the regime’s secrecy and mismanagement.
Some protesters arrested during the November uprisings are kept among ordinary prisoners infected with coronavirus in halls 6, 7 and 9 of Karaj Central prison. Inmates in hall 6 have contracted coronavirus and one has died.
Many inmates in Karaj’s Ghezelhesar Prison have contracted coronavirus, credible reports indicate.
A group of political prisoners issued a statement reading in part:
“We are a group of prisoners in Evin Prison (Tehran) arrested during the November nationwide uprising.
“… people are in horrible conditions and deprived of necessities. The regime’s suppression and secrecy has transformed the virus into a national catastrophe.

“Prisoners are in critical condition. With no masks, disinfectants, and medicines available here, some have contracted coronavirus and prison doctors are deliberately refusing to diagnose them with coronavirus. Despite enduring long delays, on various pretexts, inmates are returned from the prison clinic to their wards without examination and/or prescriptions. Prison officials are even preventing families from providing medicines to the inmates.”
In Tehran’s Evin Prison, a number of inmates in wards 4, 7 and 8 are infected with the coronavirus. A prisoner in ward 4 died to COVID-19. There is no news about several political prisoners in this facility.
Reports from Karaj’s Qezel Hesar Prison indicate at least seven inmates being infected with coronavirus. Inmates suspected of having COVID-19 are held in public wards in Rajai-Shahr Prison in Karaj.
Javaid Rehman, the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Iran, said on March 9: Recent reports indicate that COVID-19 virus has spread inside Iran’s prisons.
Iranian opposition President Maryam Rajavi called on the international community to save the lives of Iran’s political prisoners amid the coronavirus crisis:
“It is necessary to hold the regime’s officials accountable for crimes against humanity, and to increase pressure on the regime to release the political prisoners and to ensure free access to internet for the Iranian people.
“Urgent action must be taken to save the lives of prisoners in Iran, particularly political prisoners, in order to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe.”

Originally published at http://freedomstarblog.wordpress.com on March 25, 2020.