Four Buyers for Evin; Tehran's Main Prison to Move Outside the City

The head of Iran's Prisons Organization has stated that, in addition to the Tehran municipality, three other entities have expressed interest in purchasing Evin Prison from the judiciary. This comes as the mayor of Tehran has mentioned that general agreements have been reached with the head of the judiciary for the transfer of Evin Prison to the municipality. Asghar Jahangir, head of the Prisons Organization, said in an interview with Mehr News Agency on Wednesday, June 20, that 'so far, no agreement has been announced from the judiciary regarding this matter.' The statements from the head of the Prisons Organization come as Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, the mayor of Tehran, discussed the latest status of converting Evin Prison into a park, noting that 'Ayatollah Larijani has accepted this plan and general agreements have been made, but experts need to work on this issue.' The mayor had previously announced in February 2013 that with the permission of the judiciary, Evin Prison would soon be transformed into a park and museum. Jahangir also commented on the conditions for transferring Evin Prison outside Tehran, stating, 'The issue of prisons is a security matter. It is not possible to keep prisoners outside of prison until a place for their custody is created.' According to Jahangir, 'By law, prisons must be relocated outside cities, but the security considerations for protecting prisons outside the city differ from those within the city.' He also noted that for building a prison outside the city, 'a larger area suitable for the inmate population' is necessary, adding, 'New facilities must be prepared in several locations so that the Prisons Organization can carry out its activities.' The construction of Evin Prison began on a 43-hectare site in the late 1960s and the prison was inaugurated in 1971. Qasr Prison was another well-known prison in Tehran that was closed in 2004 and converted into a museum garden by the municipality in 2012. In another part of the interview, Jahangir announced the end of the trial phase for the use of electronic bracelets and ankle monitors for some prisoners. He stated, 'The trial phase for the use of electronic bracelets and ankle monitors has ended; during this phase, we identified infrastructure problems with this imported product and have had discussions with several domestic companies.' Iranian parliament representatives had previously allowed the Prisons Organization to place some eligible convicts under electronic supervision by amending a legal article in a session in February 2022. According to this plan, prisoners who are granted leave or work in open prisons, industrial, agricultural, and service institutions would be monitored with electronic ankle bracelets. Jahangir mentioned that in the first phase of this plan, 10,000 prisoners were required to use electronic ankle monitors.