Iranian female inmates set fire to Tehran's Evan prison in protest

The Kurdistan Human Rights Network had said earlier that special forces beat up the imprisoned women before gaining control of the fire.

 A view of the entrance of Evin prison in Tehran, Iran October 17, 2022 (photo credit: MAJID ASGARIPOUR/WANA (WEST ASIA NEWS AGENCY) VIA REUTERS)
A view of the entrance of Evin prison in Tehran, Iran October 17, 2022
(photo credit: MAJID ASGARIPOUR/WANA (WEST ASIA NEWS AGENCY) VIA REUTERS)

Prison guards on Saturday put out a fire started by a number of female inmates in Evin prison, near the capital Tehran, by setting fire to their shawls in protest on the anniversary of the state murder of Mahsa Amini.

It said female convicts on death row protesting the prison management set fire to the women's ward at the Qarchak jail by burning their clothes.

It was unclear if the incident was linked to the general protests on the first anniversary death of Mahsa Amini in police custody.

The Kurdistan Human Rights Network had said earlier that female inmates on Saturday held protests at the Qarchak prison on the anniversary of Amini's death. It said special forces entered the ward, beat up the women and fired pellet bullets at some of the protesters.

 A PHOTO OF Mahsa Amini is pictured at a vigil of students and activists from Delhi University in New Delhi, India, last September following her death.  (credit: REUTERS/ANUSHREE FADNAVIS)
A PHOTO OF Mahsa Amini is pictured at a vigil of students and activists from Delhi University in New Delhi, India, last September following her death. (credit: REUTERS/ANUSHREE FADNAVIS)

Imprisoned Iranian writer voices support for protests

“In protest against the relentless cruelty of the religious authoritarian government on the 25th of Shahrivar, the day when the nation used the excuse of compulsory hijab to mourn the oppressed death of Mahsa and dozens of other Iranian men and women, we burned our shawls in the yard of Evin prison,” imprisoned writer and activist Golrokh Ebrahimi Iraei wrote on Instagram.