NCRI – Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the Iranian Resistance, offered her condolences to the families of the victims of the tragic incident on August 4, 2014,when at least 11 defenseless prisoners lost their lives in an extensive fire in Shahr-e Kord prison. She also expressed the hope for a speedy recovery of those injured.
This catastrophe was caused by the prison guards obstructing attempts to put out the fire. This is an inhumane crime by the religious dictatorship ruling Iran, whose perpetrators should be brought to justice, Mrs. Rajavi said.
The Iranian Resistance’s President-elect urged international organizations and human rights bodies to condemn the deliberate burning of the prisoners and called for the dispatch of a fact-finding mission to investigate the catastrophic living conditions of prisoners in Iran.
She said: “This unprecedented atrocity is just one example of the calamities the murderers ruling Iran have imposed on prisoners for many years. The barbarians ruling Iran should be shunned by civilized nations and should face justice for their countless atrocities.”
The incident in Shahr-e Kord prison on August 4 happened after the warden ordered a number of prisoners to be punished in a bid to terrorize the inmates who had staged a strike for several days to protest the inhumane living conditions at the prison.
In solidarity with their striking cellmatesother prisonersset fire to several mattresses. Instead of putting out the fire, however, prison authorities locked the prison doors and prevented outside help, including efforts by fire-fighters to to knock down a wall to save the prisoners.
The warden and prison guards then left and abandoned the prisoners to be engulfed by the flames.
That evening, the regime’s intelligence officials issued secret orders to the mayor and the General Director of the city’s fire fighting organization to censor reports on this atrocity.
Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran
August 6, 2014
