A group of Iranian members of parliament claimed “unfavorable weather conditions” forced them to postpone a planned January 28 visit to Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison where hundreds of protesters who participated in wide-ranging and ongoing uprisings throughout the country are being held.
“The weather conditions did not, however, stop MPs from holding a session just a few miles from the prison to vote on President Hassan Rouhani’s budget bill,” Radio Farda reported.
The MPs demanded permission to visit following reports of mistreatment of the imprisoned protesters and the revelation that at least three individuals held there had committed “suicide” while in custody despite markings on their lifeless bodies indicating torture and abuse.
Outspoken Deputy Parliamentary Speaker Ali Motahari reportedly insisted, “MPs should visit all prisons across Iran to investigate all cases of alleged suicides in police custody to eliminate all negative propaganda, rumors, and reservations concerning their cases.”
Last week, Iranian lawmaker Mahmoud Sadeghi alleged that at least one of the protesters who died while in prison was forced to take pills that made him sick.
“According to the relatives of one of the detainees who died in jail, he had told his family during a phone conversation [prior to his death] that the authorities had forced him and other prisoners to take pills that made them sick,” Sadeghi reportedly tweeted.
Radio Fardo noted:
Nevertheless, independent human rights defenders believe that the two, along with four others, Shehab Abtahizadeh, Mohsen Adeli, Saro Ghahremani, and Kianoush Zandi, were beaten to death while in detention after participating in anti-establishment protests that broke out in Iran’s second largest city Mashhad on December 28 and soon spread to more than 100 cities across the country.
Observers have confirmed at least 25 people dead following the ongoing uprisings.
Adelle Nazarian is a politics and national security reporter for Breitbart News. Follow her on Facebook and Twitter.