TEHRAN— Iran's prisons chief recognized on Tuesday that
"unacceptable behavior" had taken place in the capital's Evin prison
after videos allegedly obtained by hackers showing violence against detainees
were published abroad.
اضافة اعلان
"Regarding the images ... I take responsibility for this unacceptable
behavior.
I pledge that such distressing incidents will not reoccur, and that
those culpable will be treated severely," Mohammad-Mehdi Hajj-Mohammadi
wrote in a Twitter message picked up by Iranian media.
On Sunday, Farsi-language media overseas published what they said were
videos sent to them on behalf of a group of hackers calling themselves
"Ali's Justice."
The footage, showing prison guards beating and mistreating detainees, was
reportedly from surveillance cameras at Evin and obtained by hacking into the
jail's computer system.
"I apologize to Almighty God, as well as to our dear guide (supreme
leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei), to (our) great nation and to the honorable
prison guards whose efforts will not be discredited by these errors,"
wrote Hajj-Mohammadi, without saying what steps will be taken.
One image widely shared on social networks shows what is said to be a jail
monitoring post, with screens showing the inscription "Cyberattack"
and a message calling Evin a "shameful stain" and for "the
release of political prisoners".
The ISNA news agency quoted the deputy head of the judicial authority,
Mohammad Mossadegh Kahnamouy, as saying of the videos released by "Ali's
Justice" that the case was being investigated but it was "not very
clear".
Ali was the son-in-law and cousin of the Prophet Mohammed, and the first of
the 12 imams revered under Shiite Islam, the country's state religion since the
16th century.
Iran regularly defends itself against reports by the UN or international
rights groups criticizing its treatment of prison inmates.
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