Tehran - It is Iran's most notorious jail, renowned for housing political activists, but if Tehran's mayor has his way Evin Prison will close and be transformed into a public park.
A concrete monstrosity, guarded by razor wire atop high walls on the edge of a highway in the north of the capital, Evin has been a target of reports by rights monitors such as Amnesty International, alleging maltreatment of inmates by authorities there.
But Mayor Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, a former Revolutionary Guards Air Force commander, has plans to demolish the complex and turn its sprawling 43-hectares (106 acres) into a green space.
It would be a radical change for the prison site. A special wing houses academics, intellectuals and journalists, while other sections hold thousands of other offenders.
Jason Rezaian, The Washington Post's correspondent in Tehran, is currently detained at Evin as he awaits trial for espionage and three other charges.
Many political activists arrested after demonstrations that followed the disputed re-election in 2009 of former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad were also held there.
But Ghalibaf believes that after 44 years Evin's days of locking people up are now numbered, after plans were presented to the judiciary two months ago seeking to change its purpose.
AFP
