Source: www.persecution.org
Date: February 24, 2020
Iran (International Christian Concern) – Reports are surfacing of unusual activity occurring at Iran’s infamous Evin Prison, a jail internationally recognized for its blatant abuses of human rights.
A large number of inmates have reportedly been transferred out of the prison, with Wards 2, 8, and 7 nearly empty. Other wards have been transformed and remodeled in a way that replicates Ward 209— a shadow ward run by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards. More security cameras, as well as additional barbed and electric wire fences, are being installed. The exercise area has been closed, and all trees in the common areas of Ward 7 and 8 removed. Rumors surface that a new detention center was built outside of Evin Prison, but its name and location are unknown.
On the one hand, Evin Prison has experienced a number of transformations under its warden Gholamreza Ziaei, who took the position this past July. However, these recent changes are noteworthy in both the speed and suddenness of their pursuit. It is reported that only a handful of political prisoners and prisoners of conscience remain in certain wards. ICC has tracked a number of Christian prisoners to Evin Prison. Their status given these recent changes are unclear. For more information about the wards of Evin Prison and their impact on Christians, see Evin Prison, Iran’s Torture Factory, Sanctioned.
HOW TO PRAY: Pray for the release of any inmates who are being held without cause. Pray for abuses in Evin Prison to cease. Pray for the Gospel to spread throughout Iran’s prison system.