Prisoners held at Ward 15 of Orumiyeh Central Prison rejected prison food in protest against not being granted leave yesterday afternoon. Mohammad Ghanbardoust, a religious prisoner who had been taken to a hospital outside the prison recently, has also been taken back to the political prisoner ward.
“Despite the Judiciary’s order to release prisoners due to growing concerns about the spread of Coronavirus in Iranian prisons, the authorities of Orumiyeh Central Prison have still not released the prisoners. This issue has led to protests all over the prison and prisoners held in Ward 15, the Drug Offenses Section, rejected prison food yesterday afternoon. “, an informed source told Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN).
“There are only 150 beds for the 460 prisoners held in this ward, so more than two-thirds of the inmates sleep on the floor and in the corridors of the ward. Overcrowding, lack of health facilities, the possibility of a Coronavirus outbreak and not being granted temporary release have raised concerns among the prisoners.” the source added.
“A medical team visited Orumiyeh Central Prison yesterday and examined the prisoners suffering from fever with anthropometric devices, but after a few hours the device stopped testing.”, the source continued.
Regarding the latest situation of Mohammad Ghanbardoust, a Sunni prisoner suspected of having Coronavirus who had been transferred to the hospital outside the prison in recent days, the source said that Mohammad Ghanbardoust had been taken back to political prisoner ward due to inability of his family to secure the bail of 200 million tomans.
According to the source, the prisoner’s family was told that his Coronavirus test was negative and the reason for his transfer to the hospital was asthma and lung infection.
Earlier, 4 other prisoners suspected of having the Coronavirus were transferred from ward 4-3 and 14 of Orumiyeh Central Prison to a hospital in the city, and one prisoner, Mehdi Rasouli, was returned to prison despite the deterioration of his health. Suleiman Nejad had also been hospitalized in recent days.
KHRN had earlier reported on the possibility of a Coronavirus outbreak and a humanitarian catastrophe in various Iranian prisons.
