I spent 4 years in the world's worst prison – I was whipped until my back was BLACK with blood & my husband was executed | The Sun
A PRISONER who spent four years in one of the world's most notorious prisons has revealed the horrors she endured at the hands of her captors.
Zahra Afshar bravely spoke out about the whippings, beatings and disturbing conditions she suffered behind bars at Iran's despicable Evin Prison.
Fighting back the tears, she told The Sun Online how her beloved husband, Ghasem Seifan was executed and she was forced to leave her daughter behind when she fled to the UK.
Evin is often dubbed the "world's worst prison" – and it is often reserved for political prisoners, banging them up in a desolate compound outside of Tehran.
It has also been called "The Torture House".
She is heroically speaking out about her ordeal as the Ayatollah's regime is facing its most sustained challenge ever with mass protests in Iran.
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Brave protesters are calling for an end to the ruthless republic – which has been ruled by a strict Islamic theocracy for more than 40 years.
Zahra wishes those standing up to the regime well – but knows she can never return to her home country after what she endured within the walls of Evin.
The mum and her husband were arrested in 1982 as political prisoners alongside their two-year-old daughter Sara.
She was locked up in a disgusting, overcrowded cell so tightly packed people had to sleep on their sides like sardines.
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And quickly she discovered daily beatings were part of the routine.
Zahra told The Sun Online: “It was awful, I can’t even describe how bad it was.
“I am still suffering physically and mentally. Inside the cell, it was so crowded, people had to sleep on their side to fit.
“I was very worried about my daughter- I was blindfolded but my daughter wasn't so she could see everything.
"The worst thing is she saw us and other people being tortured."
She went on: “I was beaten so badly on my head, I still have problems with my hearing.
"I am small and the man who tortured me was much bigger than me, a giant.
"He used to beat me with a very big cable.
"One day he beat me very badly when I came back to my cell I wanted to have a shower and one of my friends came to help me.
"When she saw my body she was in shock, my back was all black."
Zahra who still has hearing problems following the brutal beating she got in prison needed to have an operation on her ear and is now waiting for her next one.
Unable to hold back tears, Zahra details how her late husband was executed- and to this day she has not been able to find not even where he is buried.
Ghasem, an artist was given ten years in prison but he was executed after serving seven.
She said: "They didn't tell us anything, I begged them to tell me just why and they wouldn’t say anything. I still don’t know where they’ve buried him.
“It was a very difficult time they told me I couldn’t visit him for a few months and then they said I could take his bag- and that’s it.
"In their own court they gave him ten years, he was in their hands what could he have done?"
Zahra fled to the UK in 2003 after her release and made a new life in for herself in Wales.
But she is still haunted by her horrendous experience and believes the conditions now might even be worse.
She said:“After so long time I still can’t talk about it, I have nightmares every night because of my experience in prison- every time I think about what people in prison are going through now, some are just children 15-16-17.
“But now it’s different – I think now it’s worse for people in prison especially women.
“Because many people are on the street. When I was in prison there was no internet or so much media so nobody in the world could hear and understand what happened.
“They are very young at the moment but they don’t have any choice, they just want to be free.
Following her release, Zahra fled to the UK, forced to leave her daughter behind.
“I tried to manage my life over there but I heard they wanted to arrest me again so I didn’t have any choice," she said.
When it was time for Sara to apply for University, the regime started asking questions about her mum.
The young woman was even threatened with prison time if she didn't reveal her mum's location.
“There are many women in Iran who want to have a good education but this mullah government is misogynistic," Zahra said.
With the help of the UK Embassy, the woman was able to join her mum in the UK.
Tehran has been brutally trying to crush an uprising over the death of Mahsa Amani, 22, in police custody in September.
She was allegedly beaten to death by the morality police after she was detained for wearing an "improper" headscarf.
Iran has said it will abolish the brutal cops – but some have doubted whether this will really be the case.
Political dissent is a crime in Iran – and is one of the offences subject to capital punishment, with 21 protesters already facing execution after sham trials since the start of the uprising in September.
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And the courts have been taking a brutal line on people linked to the protests, with more than 15,000 people arrested and hundreds killed by the security forces.
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