The Eastern Kurdistan freedom and democracy movement KODAR calls for intensified street protests after the fire in the notorious torture prison Evin in Tehran. "In addition to the attacks of the Iranian regime forces on the population, prisoners have been shot at during the big fire in Evin prison. Due to lack of information due to banned media coverage, the exact circumstances of the incident remain unclear," KODAR's prisoners' committee said in a written statement on Sunday.

Evin prison in the north of Tehran is considered one of the worst prisons in Iran. Human rights organisations have been denouncing the conditions there as cruel and inhumane for years. The torture centre holds long-time political prisoners, but also hundreds of demonstrators who have been arrested in recent weeks for taking part in protests against the regime. The KODAR committee said that an attack took place on Saturday night "to repress and kill the political prisoners and detained civil activists". The Iranian regime is trying to create chaos and develop scenarios, KODAR said.

In the four weeks since Jina Mahsa Amini's murder, thousands of mostly young people have been arrested for standing up for freedom. KODAR remarked: "The regime should know that it cannot stop the popular uprisings with these repressive scenarios. Prisons have become centres of resistance against the regime's oppression over the past 43 years. They are places where freedom is demanded. What happened last night is a continuation of the massacre of political prisoners in 1998. Iran's rebellious population is aware that such terrorist actions are meant to spread fear and put down the uprising."

KODAR referred to similar attacks on 1 October in the central prison of Sine (Sanandaj) and stated that the measures were directed against the political activists and all women and men in the prisons in Rojhilat (Eastern Kurdistan) and Iran: "For this reason, we issue a warning regarding the repression of prisoners and similar machinations. The Iranian regime is responsible for all political prisoners, including Zeynab Jalalian. The Kurdish people and all people who stand for freedom in Iran must take to the streets to defend the lives of the prisoners and the gains made in recent weeks. The unity of the peoples and the opposition forces can save the lives of the prisoners."