Iranian Official Apologizes After Hackers Hit Evin Prison, Reveal Abusive Conditions

The head of Iran’s prisons organization, Mohammad Mehdi Haj Mohammadi, confirmed on Tuesday the veracity of leaked footage showing a cyberattack on Tehran’s Evin Prison and harsh conditions in the Islamic Republic’s notorious lockup. Mohammadi said in a tweet that he took responsibility for “unacceptable behaviors” at the prison and added, “I also apologize to God, our dear supreme leader, the great nation and the honorable prison guards, whose efforts will certainly not be ignored due to these errors.”

The online account of a group of self-described hackers released footage Monday showing a cyberattack that the group said it carried out against the prison. In one scene, guards are stunned to see closed-circuit TV screens in a control room suddenly switch from monitoring surveillance cameras around the prison to displaying a message from the hackers: “Cyberattack: General protest until the freedom of political prisoners,” it reads.

The alleged hackers also released footage showing overcrowded cells; fighting among the prisoners; guards beating prisoners and each other; pervasive unsanitary conditions; and apparently little or no attention paid to preventing the spread of the coronavirus. Evin, built in 1971 under the Shah’s rule, has long been the focus of criticism by human rights groups and a target of Western sanctions for holding political prisoners and others in negligent, abusive and inhumane conditions. UN Special Rapporteur Javaid Rehman said in a January report that Iran’s entire prison system faced “long-standing overcrowding and hygiene deficiencies” and “insurmountable obstacles for responding to COVID-19.”