Rohani's Assistant for Citizen Rights Also Requested to Visit Prisons

Following requests from members of Parliament to visit detention centers, the special assistant to the President on citizen rights announced that she has submitted a request to the judiciary for a visit to the detention centers, but this request has not yet been approved. Shahindokht Molaverdi stated in an interview with ISNA on Saturday, January 30, that "we have tried to convey the concerns of the families of detainees to the relevant authorities and express the existing expectations." She reported that the request for a visit to the detention centers has been submitted but is still "under review." Regarding the situation of students arrested after recent protests, she said, "very good things have happened, and we are moving towards the release of all students." After the death of Sina Ghanbari, several members of Parliament have called for a visit to Evin Prison, but the judiciary has not yet approved their request. Emadeddin Baghi, a political activist and human rights advocate who has been imprisoned several times over the past 20 years, stated in an interview with the 'Jameh Now' website on January 28 that "such visits are ineffective because the main decisions are made by the judiciary. These visits serve as a pressure valve and, in a more radical interpretation, can be seen as seduction." According to Mr. Baghi, these visits would be impactful only if "independent domestic observers" conducted regular inspections of the prisons. In addition to the request for visits to detention centers, over 40 members of Parliament have also sent a letter to Ali Larijani, the Speaker of Parliament, calling for the formation of an independent group to investigate the causes of death of several detainees from recent protests in prisons. Following recent protests, the names of several prisoners who lost their lives in prisons have been published, but judicial officials have denied any connection between the detention of these individuals and the recent protests. In this context, Mohammad Jafar Montazeri, the Attorney General of the country, announced that Sina Ghanbari, who died in Evin Prison, was "addicted" and had committed suicide. Officials from the Central Province police have made similar claims regarding Vahid Jafari, who died in Arak Prison. However, Mohammad Najafi, a lawyer, denied the claims made by the Central Province police officials. A few days after these statements, he was arrested in front of his home on January 25. Recently, news about the "arrest of 20-year-old Shahab Abtahizadeh from Arak and the subsequent discovery of his body in front of his father's house" has circulated on social media. Nevertheless, in this case, Ghasem Abdollahi, the Chief Justice of Central Province, stated that the death of this individual "is not related to the recent unrest and that he died due to drug injection." Nasrin Sotoudeh, a lawyer, has called for an independent committee to investigate these claims. According to Ms. Sotoudeh, "some of the arrested protesters have told her via phone calls from Evin Prison that security officials advised them to request methadone during their meeting with a judicial official to expedite their release." In this regard, Mahmoud Sadeghi, a member of Parliament from Tehran, tweeted on Tuesday, January 26, that "one of the prisoners who recently died in prison told his family that prisoners were forced to take pills that made them feel unwell." Two days later, the public relations office of the prison organization described this claim as "false" and an example of "spreading lies and disturbing public opinion," promising that those who made the claims would be "legally pursued in the Tehran Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor's Office as soon as possible." In response to the prison organization's threat to sue those who raised the issue of "forced medication" for detainees, this member of Parliament urged the organization to "instead of threatening with punishment, allow representatives of the people to visit the prisons in response to repeated requests." However, Hassan Norouzi, the spokesman for the Judiciary Commission of Parliament, rejected Mr. Sadeghi's statements in an interview with the Zeytoon website. He commented on the suspicious deaths of several prisoners from recent protests, saying, "The deaths of many of these individuals in prison may be related to their grief over the actions they have taken. They may have thought about the ugliness of their actions in prison, which could have led to their suicides. Many of these prisoners were bank employees and did not even have problems with inflation or unemployment." Besides Vahid Heydari and Sina Ghanbari, whose deaths the Islamic Republic officials have denied any connection to the recent protests, according to statistics announced by Iranian television and statements from members of Parliament, 25 people have been killed in the protests. Meanwhile, reports have also emerged about the deaths of other individuals, including Saro Ghahramani in Sanandaj and Mohsen Adeli in Dezful, but Islamic Republic officials have denied these reports. The governor of Sanandaj has also claimed that Saro Ghahramani was "affiliated with terrorist groups," a claim rejected by Mr. Ghahramani's relatives. Islamic Republic officials use the term "terrorist groups" to refer to armed opposition groups.