Inmate shot dead in Iran prison riot, says rights group

A prison inmate in Iran has been shot dead and over a dozen wounded in a riot that erupted when detainees protested an imminent execution, according to a rights group.

The unrest at the central prison in the northern city of Karaj began yesterday, when prisoners protested the transfer of an inmate to solitary confinement ahead of execution, says the Norway-based group Iran Human Rights (IHR).

Iranian authorities have offered a different account, saying conflict erupted between prisoners convicted of drug offenses, with one person killed after a stone was thrown at him.

IHR reports that prisoners had chanted slogans against the regime, including “Death to the dictator,” referring to Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. They also blocked entrances to the Karaj prison and broke surveillance cameras during the riot, IHR says.