Mahaz News
—
Iran will pardon or commute the sentences of a lot of prisoners as a part of an annual amnesty, state media reported Sunday, though it’s unclear how this can apply to individuals arrested within the current wave of protests.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has authorized a proposal to “pardon or commute” the sentences of 1000’s of prisoners, state media reviews, however with notable exceptions that may possible exclude many imprisoned protesters.
According to semi-official Tasnim, the amnesty doesn’t apply to these sentenced or going through fees of “espionage for outsiders, direct links with the foreign intelligence services, murder or intentional injuries, as well as vandalism or arson attack on governmental, military and public sites” – all fees commonly levied towards protesters and overseas nationals imprisoned in Iran.
Referring to protesters, Chief Justice Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei mentioned “a number of convicts jailed following the recent riots in Iran had been deceived into wrongdoing under the influence of the enemy’s propaganda campaign” and have “asked for forgiveness,” Tasnim reported.
At least one Iranian human rights group dismissed the transfer as “propaganda.”
“The #HypocriticalPardoning of protesters by Khamenei is an act of propaganda. They used their self-right to protest and their arrests and sentences are not justified. Not only should all protesters be released, but in the path of justice, the trials of the perpetrators and agents of repression is also a universal right,” Iran Human Rights mentioned on Twitter.
A New York primarily based NGO, the Center for Human Rights (CHRI) in Iran, described the transfer by Khamenei as a “PR stunt” with “no grounding in reality.”
The deputy director of the CHRI, Jasmin Ramsey, advised Mahaz News in a press release Sunday that the Iranian regime has a “documented history of making lofty declarations about releasing political prisoners and not following through.”
“What we expect is that some will be released while many others, especially prominent political prisoners who’ve been unjustly jailed for years, will remain imprisoned,” Ramsey mentioned.
“This is a PR stunt that has no grounding in reality by a regime that has lost legitimacy amongst its people. The political repression, the imprisonments after sham “trials” led by kangaroo courts, the criminalization of dissent stay,” she continued.
Semi-official news company Mehr claimed “tens of thousands” of prisoners might be pardoned or have their sentences commuted however supplied no particulars.
Khamenei made the announcement forward of the forty fourth anniversary of the “victory of the Islamic Revolution” marked on February 11. It is customary for Khamenei to grant amnesty to some prisoners to make this event.
Anti-government protests, sparked by the dying of Mahsa Amini, a younger Kurdish-Iranian girl in September 2022, have resulted in tens of 1000’s of individuals being arrested by the nation.
Last month, Iran executed two protesters charged with killing safety personnel, inflicting a world outcry. Critics mentioned the executions have been a results of hasty sham trials. At least 43 persons are at the moment going through execution in Iran, in line with a Mahaz News rely, however activist group 1500Tasvir says the quantity might be as excessive as 100.
Source web site: www.cnn.com
