[imagesource: AP / The Justice For Ali]
Life inside Iran’s Evin Prison is hellish.
Located in Tehran, the nation’s capital, the prison is renowned for its mistreatment of inmates, with former political prisoners likening it to a torture chamber.
Now the prison has been targetted by hackers, and it appears as though they obtained footage that is taken directly from the prison surveillance system.
Hackers even obtained footage of the exact moment prison officials realised they were under cyberattack, reports VICE:
At first it just seems like one computer is having issues as it goes black and displays a reboot screen. Then a few others start changing. Then another displays a message: “Cyberattack,” and “General protest until the freedom of political prisoners.”
Then several flash orange at the same time and then show the message too. The prison guard leaves the room and summons his colleagues: they’ve been hacked.
One of the screens starts flashing orange from the 30-second mark.
The penny really drops around 45 seconds in:
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This is the moment that the officials in Evan prison realized that they have been hacked. Hackers have accessed security camera footage from inside an Iranian prison where political prisoners are being held, and posted videos of guards beating inmates. pic.twitter.com/ys1prSVqkI— Masih Alinejad 🏳️ (@AlinejadMasih) August 23, 2021
The Justice of Ali, the group responsible for the hack, says it has hundreds of gigabytes of data showing abuse by prison officials.
Some of that footage was also released to the public by the hackers:
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Shocking footage obtained by hackers who hacked into the notorious Evil Prison in Iran’s surveillance system. It shows how prisoners are violently beaten and tortured by prison officials.
Islamic Republics officials never allow UN Special Rapporteur to visit Iranian prison. pic.twitter.com/05eOx6QYJj— Masih Alinejad 🏳️ (@AlinejadMasih) August 23, 2021
More on the messages displayed on the computer screens from Mashable:
“Evin is a stain on the black turban and white beard of Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi – the nationwide protest [will continue] until the release of political prisoners.”
…Notably, the hackers claim this is just the beginning of their efforts. “We will continue to expose the oppression.”
The head of Iran’s prison system, Mohammad Mehdi Hajmohammadi, has confirmed that the abuse videos are authentic, and accepted responsibility for his part in “unacceptable behaviours”.
He’ll have to do better than that, with the hackers, and now the world, watching on.
