Thousands pardoned in Iran include anti-regime protesters

IRAN’S Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei yesterday pardoned “tens of thousands of prisoners” including many who were arrested during nationwide anti-government protests.

The pardons, annually on the eve of the anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, came with caveats that stop dual nationals being released.

Anyone charged with spying for foreign agencies, intentionally committing murder or injury, or destruction or arson of property would not be pardoned, state media said. Those facing the capital charge of “corruption on earth” would also not be eligible.

The “hypocritical pardon of protesters is an act of propaganda”, said Oslobased NGO Iran Human Rights.

Not only should “all protesters be released unconditionally but it is a public right that those who ordered the repression and their agents are prosecuted,” it added.

The Ayatollah regularly issues collective pardons or commutes sentences on major religious anniversaries. The last was in October when they applied to almost 1,900 prisoners on the eve of Iran marking the anniversary of the birth of the Prophet Mohammed.

Collective pardons were also issued following the protest movements in 2009 and 2019, according to Dr Sanam Vikil, Iran lead at Chatham House.

“The pardons are important because it does show an effort at restoring some legitimacy and trust with the population,” she said. “But it is unlikely that the pardons will result in any meaningful reform of the system, which is what is needed to stem the anger and frustration seen throughout Iran.”

For tens of thousands to be affected in this decree shows for the first time Iranian authorities acknowledging the scale of arrests that they have made since the protest movement was born in September. Authorities have refused to release any official data on the number of arrests, leaving rights groups trying to monitor arrests across the country’s population of 87 million.

According to Human Rights Activists in Iran, almost 20,000 people have been arrested since the unrest began. Their tally also estimates that at least 527 people have been killed, while four are known to have been executed.

For analysts, the pardon does not equate to a shift in policy for the crackdown on the protest movement.

“The regime’s repressive apparatus is firmly in place,” said Jason Brodsky, director of United Against Nuclear Iran. This “propaganda ploy” was designed “to quash the revolutionary sentiment inside the Iranian population [and] trick the West into thinking that reform is possible when it’s not,” he said.

The head of the judiciary requested the pardons claiming that many of the young protesters had been led astray by foreign influence and propaganda.

From the outset Iran has blamed the protests on the West as an attempt to destabilise the Islamic regime.

‘This propaganda ploy is to quash the revolutionary sentiment inside the Iranian population’