Israeli Strikes Blow Up Gates of Tehran’s Evin Prison

Israeli forces struck the gates of Iran’s Evin Prison and hit government buildings across Tehran on Monday.

Projectiles hit the prison housing Iran’s political prisoners, causing damage and destroying the facility’s gates, though Iranian officials said the situation was “currently under control.”

The strike was “irresponsible” and puts prisoners “in mortal danger,” said Noemie Kohler, the sister of French national Cecile Kohler, who is jailed there.

Cecile Kohler has been held along with her partner Jacques Paris in Evin since May 2022 on espionage charges their families reject.

Overall, Iran is believed to hold around 20 European nationals in what some Western governments describe as a strategy of hostage-taking aimed at extracting concessions from the West.

Most are held in Evin, a large, heavily fortified complex notorious among activists for rights abuses. It is located in a northern district of the Iranian capital.

“This strike is completely irresponsible. Cecile, Jacques, and all the prisoners are in mortal danger,” Noemie Kohler told AFP. “This is really the worst thing that could have happened,” she added.

“We have no news, we don’t know if they are still alive, we’re panicking,” Noemie Kohler said.

She urged the French authorities to “condemn these extremely dangerous strikes” and secure the release of the French prisoners.

She also expressed concern about the risk of “chaos” and “riots.”

Noemie Kohler has tirelessly campaigned to secure the release of her sister and her sister’s partner, Jacques Paris.

Chirinne Ardakani, a lawyer for the Kohler family, denounced the strikes as “illegal.”

“The risk of riots, general confusion, and reprisals by the security forces against the insurgent prisoners raises fears of bloodshed,” she said. “Both sides are playing with people’s lives.”

Political prisoners held at Tehran’s Evin Prison wrote to Iran’s judiciary chief last week to call for their temporary release during the ongoing conflict between Iran and Israel.

In their letter, the prisoners warned that the country’s prisons lack basic safety measures to protect inmates from potential missile and drone strikes.

Addressed to Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, head of Iran’s judiciary, the letter was signed by eight political prisoners, including prominent figures Reza Khandan, Taher Naghavi, and Nasrollah Amirloo.

The prisoners warned that Iranian prisons, particularly Ward 8 of Evin Prison, lack safety facilities to protect against missile and drone attacks, and that continued detention under these conditions could endanger their lives.

“It is unclear when the current war will end, and Evin Prison, like many other prisons across the country, does not have the facilities to protect prisoners’ lives from missile and drone attacks or bombings by Israeli fighter jets,” the letter stated.

The signatories highlighted the lack of air raid warning systems, shelters, evacuation routes, and even basic safety equipment like fire extinguishers.

Referring to a 1986 directive issued by the Supreme Judicial Council, along with Articles 201 and 197 of the Prison Organization’s executive regulations, the prisoners argued that the current war situation constitutes a “crisis condition.” Under such circumstances, they said, the judiciary chief is empowered to authorize long-term furloughs for inmates.

The directive, originally enacted to protect prisoners during wartime, advises prosecutors to consider options like conditional release or assigning prisoners to outside work if their lives are in danger. If such measures prove insufficient, it permits release on bail, with guarantors, or under sponsorship.

“The same conditions that led to the passage of this resolution by the Supreme Judicial Council are now present and ongoing,” they said.