Iran: Tension Continues in Rajai-Shahr Prison Following A Murder

The prisoners who spoke with IHR believed that Vahid Moradi’s murder was “organized” by the authorities. “Vahid Moradi had told the prison authorities that he had many enemies in the ward 1 before being transferred there, but the prison guard finally forced him to move from the solitary confinement of ward 5 to the ward 1”, a source claimed. 

After the gang fight on July 2, about 20 prisoners who were seen in the fight by the surveillance cameras were transferred to solitary confinements and two days later, seven of them named “Seyyed Abdolhossein Razzaqi, Qasem Mahmoudi, Maqsoud Maqsoudi, Hassan Amini, Vahid Seylani, Abbas Tavakkoli, and Saeed Saleh” were transferred to the police station.

The relatives of one of the prisoners told IHR, “Many of them were identified as murder suspects and were sent to the police station only because they were near the incident. Our prisoner didn’t even have a knife and his only crime was standing near the place where Vahid Moradi was stabbed.”

He also said, “After Vahid Moradi was stabbed, he was sent to the prison clinic and was left there for an hour without being treated by the doctors, consequently, he died of blood loss. This proves that his murder was organized. Now seven prisoners who hadn’t even participated in the fight are in the police station being tortured, with the aim that the weakest one accepts the accusation.”

He continue, “The prison authorities said that they are going to transfer these seven prisoners to the wards where Vahid Moradi’s friends can take their revenge. Now, these prisoners are accused of murder and in danger of vengeance. Who is responsible for their safety?”

Many reports had been published earlier regarding prison mafia at Rajai Shahr Prison. HRANA news agency wrote in a report titled “Organized Murders; Vahid Moradi, Murdered at Rajai Shahr Prison” that, “State mafia" at Rajai Shahr Prison is very complicated and developed, HRANA has discussed drug mafia, sex trafficking, widespread possession of cold weapons, and organized murders including a place named “the bloody ring” in several reports.

Vahid Moradi had been in prison for murder since late May, but his conflicts with some criminals who worked with security institutions continued and it is not far from the mind that the authorities are trying to victimize some other prisoners instead of finding the real murderers.

Iran Human Rights warns about the situation of these seven prisoners while urging international institutions to react against the use of torture by the judicial authorities. Furthermore, the authorities of Rajai Shahr Prison should take effective measures in order to protect the prisoners knowing the possibility of revenge-driven conflicts.