Iran’s top authority pardons 22,000 people who took part in anti-government protests
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Salma Hossein
- . March 14, 2023
- . Update: March 14, 2023 9:06 pm
The judicial authorities of the Islamic Republic of Iran have pardoned 22,000 people, who took part in anti-government protests, sparked by the death of an Iranian-Kurdish woman in police custody, according to the official IRNA news agency.
Iran’s judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei said on Monday that the authorities pardoned those 22,000 people. He further revealed, “So far 82,000 people have been pardoned, including 22,000 people who participated in protests.” However, he did not provide further details regarding the pardons.
Last month, Ali Hosseini Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of Iran, pardoned “tens of thousands” of prisoners, including some people arrested in the anti-government protests. Khamenei announced the pardon in honour of the anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, which resulted in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynasty in 1979.
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Iranian authorities said that they arrested “tens of thousands” of people for participating in the demonstrations against the government. On Monday, Iran’s judiciary chief revealed that 22,628 people were arrested during demonstrations. He further added that those pardoned had not committed theft or violent crimes in Iran.
Earlier, Human Rights Activists in Iran said that more than 19,700 people were arrested during the protests and at least 530 were killed. Earlier, Iranian authorities executed some detained Iranian protesters. Iran executed the first detained protester, identified as Mohsen Shekari, in December 2022. Later on, the authorities executed its second detained Iranian protester, identified as Majidreza Rahnavard. According to Iran’s Mizan news agency, he was convicted over allegedly stabbing two Iranian security force members to death.
Human rights activists said that many people received death sentences over their involvement in the recent demonstrations.
Protests started in mid-September after the death of a 22-year-old Iranian-Kurdish woman, Mahsa Amini, in the custody of Iranian morality police.
