Iran FREES 85,000 prisoners to combat coronavirus as it suffers deadliest day taking death toll to 853
IRAN has freed 85,000 prisoners in a bid to combat the spread of coronavirus, the government said today.
The country has been one of the worst hit in the world by the deadly bug, with around 15,000 confirmed cases.
⚠️ Read our coronavirus live blog for the latest news and updates
The virus has claimed 853 Iranian lives so far, including 129 yesterday alone on the nation’s deadliest day yet.
And the unprecedented move aimed at stemming the tide inside the country’s overcrowded jails was announced today by judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Esmaili.
He said: "Some 50 per cent of those released are security-related prisoners... also in the jails we have taken precautionary measures to confront the outbreak."
It's not clear if the decision aims to stem the spread by removing people from cramped conditions where the virus can flourish, or if the bug has decimated staff numbers so much that jails can't function.
Political prisoners are also among the inmates who have been released in the move, Sky News reports.
The UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Iran said last week he asked Tehran to temporarily free all political prisoners from its hellish disease-ridden prisons.
FEARS FOR BRIT
One of those locked away in Iran is Brit mum Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who has been caged since 2016 on trumped-up spying charges.
Her family and supporters have raised serious concerns for her health, with husband Richard saying earlier this month she was showing "all the symptoms" of Covid-19.
He has repeatedly called for her to be released temporarily after the deadly virus ripped through the notorious Evin prison where she is being held.
But authorities refused – even denying her a test for coronavirus, Mr Ratcliffe said.
It is unclear whether there is any hope Nazanin will be among the thousands of prisoners released under today's announcement.
The real numbers of infected in Iran may be even higher than official accounts, as some have questioned the government’s reporting.
One lawmaker claimed that dozens of people had died in Qom alone when the regime was saying that only 12 had died in total.
Iran's top general even claimed last week that the global outbreak was the result of a US biological warfare attack on China.
The mass graves in the country where virus victims are buried are so big they can be seen from space.
Many Iranians have dismissed fears about the virus and advice to avoid social contact.
Restaurants and cafes have remained open, though business has diminished.
On Monday, Iran closed the Masoume shrine, a major pilgrimage site in the city of Qom, the epicentre of the country’s outbreak.
The government was already restricting access and barring pilgrims from kissing or touching the shrine, but it had remained open.
Authorities also waited until Monday to close the Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad, which draws 25 million Shiite pilgrims a year, including many from neighbouring Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Among those to die from the virus in the country was a top religious cleric, it was revealed yesterday.
Ayatollah Hashem Bathaei, 78, is the latest of several Iranian officials to have died.
Most read in news
Cabinet ministers, members of parliament, Revolutionary Guard members and Health Ministry officials have caught the virus.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who is 80 years old and has been in power since 1989, wore disposable gloves at a recent public event.
The official leading Iran’s response to the virus on Sunday expressed concerns that health facilities could be overwhelmed if the rate of new cases continues to climb.
