Iran’s supreme leader pardons ‘tens of thousands’ of prisoners

DUBAI — Iran’s supreme leader has pardoned “tens of thousands” of prisoners, including those arrested in recent anti-government protests, state news agency IRNA reported Sunday, after a brutal government crackdown helped quell nationwide unrest.

However, the pardon approved by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei came with conditions, according to details released by state media, that the measure would not apply to any of the many dual nationals held in Iran.

The state news agency IRNA reported that those accused of “corruption on the ground” – a death penalty charge brought against some of the protesters, four of whom were executed – would also not be pardoned.

This also does not apply to individuals accused of “spying for foreign agencies” or those “associated with groups hostile to the Islamic Republic,” according to state media.

Iran has been gripped by protests since the death of a young Iranian Kurdish woman detained by the country’s morality police last September. It was attended by Iranians from all walks of life, one of the boldest challenges to the Islamic Republic since the 1979 revolution.

About 20,000 people were arrested in connection with protests that authorities blamed on Iran’s external enemies, according to the activist news agency KHRANA.

Human rights organizations say more than 500 people, including 70 minors, were killed in the crackdown. According to the Iranian judiciary, at least four people were hanged.

In a letter to Khamenei asking for clemency, the head of the judiciary, Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, said: “During recent events, a number of people, especially youth, have committed wrong actions and crimes as a result of indoctrination and propaganda by the enemy.

The protests have slowed down significantly since the hangings began.

“Since the plans of external enemies and anti-revolutionary currents have been thwarted, many of these young people now regret their actions,” Edzhei wrote.

Khamenei approved a pardon in honor of the anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

This will not apply to those “accused of spying for foreign agencies, in direct contact with foreign agents, of premeditated murder and mischief, (and) of committing the destruction and arson of state property.”

“Naturally, those who do not express regret for their actions and give a written commitment not to repeat these actions will not be pardoned,” deputy head of the judiciary Sadeq Rahimi said, according to state media.

Iran’s Norwegian rights group said this week that at least 100 detained protesters face the death penalty.

Amnesty International has criticized Iranian authorities for what it called “sham trials designed to intimidate those involved in the popular uprising that has shaken Iran.”

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