Sadeqi: One of the Prisoners Who Died Reported Being Forced to Take Pills

Mahmoud Sadeqi, a reformist member of the Iranian Parliament, said on Tuesday, January 26, that one of the prisoners who recently died in prison had informed his family during a call that prisoners were being forced to take pills that made them feel unwell. Sadeqi wrote on his Twitter account: "According to the relatives of one of the detainees who died in prison, he stated during several calls with his family that officials forced him and other detainees to take pills that made them feel unwell..." While sources and human rights activists report that three to five detainees have died in detention centers during recent protests in Iran, official authorities of the Islamic Republic have only acknowledged the "suicide" and death of two individuals during this period, claiming that they were not arrested in connection with the recent protests. On Sunday, Mahmoud Sadeqi commented on the number of individuals who, according to Islamic Republic officials, committed suicide while in custody, stating: "Two are confirmed; Mr. Sina Ghanbari in Tehran and Mr. Vahid Heydari in Arak. Recently, reports have come from Kurdistan and Sanandaj indicating that two or three individuals have died in custody. However, these reports are unconfirmed." In this context, Parvaneh Salahshouri, a representative from Tehran in Parliament, expressed concern over the number of deaths in prisons and held the prison organization responsible for the lives of prisoners, demanding accountability from this organization. According to official sources, during the protests of January 2018, which took place in over 100 cities in Iran, 3,700 people were arrested. Following reports of the deaths of several detainees during recent protests in detention centers, a group of parliament members requested to visit Evin Prison. However, their request has so far been unsuccessful. Nevertheless, Mohammad Javad Fathi, a reformist representative from Tehran, stated on Tuesday that there is still opposition to the request for parliament members to visit Evin Prison, and representatives do not have accurate information regarding the number of detainees and the reasons for the deaths of some of them. Fathi stated in an interview with Etemad Online: "We are more interested in visiting the recent detainees to see what their charges are, when they were arrested, the reasons for their arrest, where they were detained, when their cases will be referred to the judiciary, and what orders the judiciary has given." According to the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, there is no official medical report regarding the deaths of these detainees. This campaign has also called for independent investigations to uncover the causes of these deaths.