**"I won't be raping those girls who are asking for it, at least not out in the middle of the street where everyone can see, but it's the same kind of power trip."
**
Evin Prison, October 28 - An employee at the Islamic Republic's most notorious detention facility known for its humiliation and brutal physical, sexual, and psychological abuse of the incarcerated voiced his ambition today for professional advancement into the ranks of men in charge of finding, identifying, and mistreating women and girls who fail to adhere to the regime's public sartorial and behavioral standards.
Bangdem Sharmutaz, 33, spoke to reporters during his morning coffee break at the prison, where he has worked for six years. "Don't get me wrong, I like working here," he acknowledged. "The pay's just fine, it's not far from my home, and I get to release my inner brutal beast multiple times a day, if my stamina holds up. It was easier when I was a rookie, fresh from some other prisons, and I could beat, restrain, and rape the women - and sometimes the men - more or less every day. But I'm not getting any younger, and while I enjoy the sense of power, not to mention the physical release, I also get the feeling there's more to this career than just humiliating political dissidents in every way possible. I'm going to apply to join the modesty patrols."
Mr. Sharmutaz anticipates the move to involve an improvement along multiple career axes. "First of all, I know the pay's better, and I'm in government service already, so my seniority will make sure I certainly don't get paid any less," he began. "Then of course there's the fact that this is primarily an indoor job, within the same walls day after day, whereas as a modesty policeman I'd be out and about in the fresh air, or at least in reasonably comfortable indoor public facilities such as shopping malls or catering halls. Just the ability to walk around will make a huge difference."
"What appeals to me most, though," he continued, "is that it's smack dab in my skill set and experience. True, I won't be raping those girls who are asking for it, at least not out in the middle of the street where everyone can see, but it's the same kind of power trip. Besides, once I arrest them and take them back to the station, anything goes. Everyone knows that the people who run 'modesty patrols' have only a secondary interest in actual modesty, and focus more on labeling as whores anyone they want to make into whores. That kind of power is why I got into this career in the first place."