‘They beat me until I lost consciousness’: growing reports of brutal arrests, torture and deaths in Iran’s prisons

Testimonies from political prisoners and journalists arrested in crackdowns since the war have started to emerge as regime’s internet blackout lifts Iranian writer Hamid Asefi wasn’t home on the afternoon of 5 March when armed intelligence agents stormed his Tehran apartment, breaking down the door with a sledgehammer and axe. After going unit to unit looking for him, they finally encountered him as he returned to the building. One of the agents “drew his handgun, shouted at me to stop, and b...

By Deepa Parent