Top Iranian Cleric Pardons 22,000 Anti-Government Protesters - Judiciary Chief

Iran's top cleric, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has so far pardoned 22,000 people swept up in the violent protests that rocked the country last fall after the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, Iranian Judiciary Chief Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei said on Monday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 13th March, 2023) Iran's top cleric, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has so far pardoned 22,000 people swept up in the violent protests that rocked the country last fall after the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, Iranian Judiciary Chief Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei said on Monday.

"At the moment, a total 82,000 have been granted amnesty... Of those, 22,000 pardoned people were convicted (for rioting) or granted amnesty before the sentence (for rioting) was passed," Mohseni-Ejei was quoted as saying by Iranian state-run news agency IRNA.

Violent riots broke out in Iran in mid-September 2022 in connection with the death of Amini in police custody after being detained for wearing an "improper" hijab. Many Iranian citizens accused the morality police of her death, alleging that law enforcement officers hit her in the head. Tehran accused the West of inciting unrest that escalated in October to clashes with security forces and assaults on the clergy.