Iran, rocked by months of protests sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini, has released several dozen high-profile prisoners in an apparent attempt to appease critics of the government.
The limited amnesty comes as the frequency and size of rallies have dwindled in the winter months since peaking after the custodial death of Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurdish woman, in mid-September.
She died following her arrest for allegedly flouting dress rules that require women to wear hijab headscarves and modest clothing, leading to months of civil unrest that Iran has generally blamed on foreign instigators. Riots”.
Hundreds were killed, among them security forces, and thousands were arrested, with four convicts being hanged.
Many of those detained are believed to be still behind bars, and those out on bail face the threat of ongoing legal cases against them.
But as tensions on the street have cooled somewhat, Iran has released a slew of high-profile detainees in recent weeks, in a move seen as an attempt to calm the conflict after months of turmoil. Has been observed.
The reformist newspaper Etemad ran pictures of 50 newly freed figures on its front page, the best indication of the scale of the release in the absence of an official list.
These included filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof, French-Iranian researcher Fariba Adelkhah, activists Farhad Messami, Sabah Kordafshari and Mohammad Habibi, and photographer Naushin Jafari.
Renowned director Zafar Panahi was also released a few days ago.
“As far as I remember, the scope of this amnesty is unprecedented,” said Mazyar Khosravi, a journalist who has been jailed several times since 2009.
‘Strengthen national unity’
Iran’s prisons still hold politicians, activists and journalists who have criticized the authorities, and there remains uncertainty over their fate and what steps the authorities may take in the future.
The two journalists who first drew public attention to Amini’s death, Elahe Mohammadi and Niloufar Hamidi, remain behind bars along with nearly a dozen of their colleagues detained amid the protests.
Other prominent figures still in prison include politicians Fayzah Hashemi and Mustafa Tajdeh, sociologist Saeed Madani, activists Mehdi Mahmoodian and Fatemeh Sepehri, and lawyers Amirsalar Davoudi and Mustafa Nili.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei approved a partial pardon in early February on a proposal by judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseny Ezei ahead of the 44th anniversary of the Islamic republic.
President Ibrahim Raisi used the occasion last Saturday to announce a plan to strengthen national “unity”, which was launched with Khamenei’s approval.
“Students and cultural, sports and media figures who are subject to sanctions because of illegal actions will be pardoned,” said Raisi, a hardline former judiciary chief.
Former President Hassan Rouhani, a moderate, voiced hope that the prisoner release would “strengthen national cohesion” and serve as a “starting point for repairing divisions” between Iranians.
The ultra-conservative Javanese newspaper saw the government’s move as a sign that “the sedition has come to an end”.
‘Factors of Discontent’
At the height of the protests, Iranian security forces arrested thousands of famous athletes, singers and actors for their alleged involvement.
Four of those arrested were hanged.
In recent weeks, the government has also eased some internet restrictions, although access to Instagram and WhatsApp, the most popular social media platforms in Iran, remains blocked.
Khosravi predicted that the new measures would help “calm down the atmosphere in the short term”.
Political scientist Ahmed Zeidabadi, who has also been jailed repeatedly, judged that “if the amnesty does not include all political prisoners and stops at this stage, it will do little to improve the situation in the long term.” won’t help”.
Iran has endured years of tough sanctions and Tehran remains increasingly at odds with major Western powers over its disputed nuclear program and a range of other issues.
“There are many factors to the discontent,” Zeidabadi said, pointing to several factors – “the economic hardships of the population, tensions in international relations and pressures related to wearing the hijab”.
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(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed)