{"id":301404,"date":"2023-02-13T15:44:24","date_gmt":"2023-02-13T14:44:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/?p=301404"},"modified":"2023-03-01T15:47:41","modified_gmt":"2023-03-01T14:47:41","slug":"what-to-make-of-khameneis-amnesty-of-iran-protests-detainees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/news\/iran-protests\/what-to-make-of-khameneis-amnesty-of-iran-protests-detainees\/","title":{"rendered":"What to Make of Khamenei\u2019s \u201cAmnesty\u201d of Iran Protests\u2019 Detainees?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"iran<\/p>\n

Recently, the so-called \u201camnesty\u201d of thousands of inmates, including political prisoners by the Iranian regime\u2019s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, made headlines. While authorities and Tehran\u2019s pundits celebrate this decision as a \u201chumanitarian action\u201d and a \u201csign of strength,\u201d facts on the ground reveal the opposite: Khamenei\u2019s desperation.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Despite the regime\u2019s heavy quash, the nationwide uprising has persisted for the past five months. Besides brutalizing protesters, Khamenei has been nurturing his paranoia of downfall through propaganda and censorship.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The People\u2019s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI\/MEK) was the first to announce<\/a> that at least 30,000 protesters have been detained.\u00a0 This has not been the first time that the MEK\u2019s account for the regime\u2019s crimes. The MEK was the first to announce that authorities killed 1500 protesters during the November 2019 uprising. This number was later confirmed by Reuters and referenced by many international organizations. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Besides, videos from Iran showed the security forces viciously cracking down on protests, killing and imprisoning unarmed protesters. Even though Tehran denied it completely, now the state media acknowledge this fact.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

On February 8, while claiming that Khamenei offers clemency to \u201cbetween 30 to 40 thousand prisoners,\u201d the state-run Royedad 24 wrote<\/a>: \u201cThis year, around 100,000 prisoners were pardoned, which is much more than the last year.\u201d\u00a0 The state-affiliated outlet then reminds the claims of Hassan Nowrozi, the vice-chairman of the judicial and legal commission of the parliament, who underlined in 2021 that there are nearly \u201c240,000 prisoners, and this number should be 20,000. Prisons are over-capacitated.\u201d <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTherefore, at least 200,000 prisoners were in Iran’s prisons until last year. Thirty thousand prisoners and detainees of the recent protests make up 15% of the total prison population of the country, which is a significant figure,\u201d Roydad 24 added.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cDuring the protests, reports from the Greater Tehran\u2019s Penitentiary, Fashafuye Prison, indicated that the number of detainees was so large that inmates had no place to sleep. One of the detainees of Fashafuye Prison<\/a> said people had to sleep on the stairs, and even the corridors could not accommodate the high number of detainees. The 15% increase in the country’s prison population within four months also skyrockets the costs,\u201d the website writes.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIn September, Mehdi Hajian, the spokesman of FARAJA, a.k.a state law enforcement forces, announced that each inmate’s keeping costs around 100 million rials. Suppose the figure of 30,000 detainees during the recent protests is correct. In that case, more than 3 trillion rials per month and 3,6 quadrillion rials per year will be added to the expenses of the prison organization,\u201d Roydad 24 adds.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Political prisoner Ali Moezi in critical conditions<\/div><\/div>
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