Ayatollah Khamenei agrees to the pardon or reduction in sentences of thousands of convicts in recent riots

In his letter to the Leader, Hujjat al-Islam wal-Muslimeen Ejei wrote, “In the recent unrest, a number of people, especially young people, committed wrong behaviors and crimes due to the incitement and propaganda of the enemy. In addition to causing problems for themselves, they also caused hardship for their families and relatives. Now that the schemes of the foreign enemies and the anti-revolutionary movements against the people have been revealed, a significant number of them are expressing their regret and remorse, and they are asking to be forgiven.”

The Head of the Judiciary also wrote the following in his letter, “The general terms and conditions for a reduction in sentence or pardon of convicts and defendants have been prepared in two parts after carrying out the necessary investigations and consulting with the related authorities.”

In the first part of his letter, he stated the necessary conditions for a reduction in sentence or pardoning of convicts in the recent unrest. He also stressed, “The files of the convicts and defendants will be closed at any stage if they meet the stated conditions.”

In the statement of the necessary conditions for a reduction in sentence or pardoning of convicts and defendants in the recent unrest, the following conditions have been listed, “not having committed espionage for foreign services; not having direct contact with the agents of foreign intelligence services; not having committed murder or injury intentionally; not having destroyed or set fire to government, military, or public facilities; and not having a private plaintiff or claimant.

In the second part of the suggestion of the Head of the Judiciary for the pardon or reduction in sentence of convicts who have been convicted in Public Courts, Revolutionary Courts, and the Judiciary Courts of the Armed Forces, certain other conditions have also been announced. These conditions include not having a private plaintiff or claimant, the remainder of the convict’s sentence for imprisonment being up to one year if they have served at least one month in prison by the 22nd of Bahman (11th of February), three quarters of a sentence will be pardoned for those sentenced to imprisonment for one to five years if they have served one fifth of their sentence by the 22nd of Bahman (11th of February), one half of a sentence will be pardoned for those sentenced to imprisonment for 10 to 20 years provided that they have served at least two years of their sentence by the 22nd of Bahman (11th of February), and the rest of a sentence for imprisonment will be pardoned for all those convicted of unintentional crimes.

Ejhei also announced special conditions for female convicts who have been given the guardianship or custody of their children by law, for convicts who have diseases that are either difficult to treat or are incurable, male convicts over 70 years old and female convicts over 60 years old, as well as for convicts who are in prison but are unable to pay their monetary fines. These conditions were also included in the letter requesting pardons and reduced sentences.

Several groups have been listed as being excluded from being qualified for these pardons and reduced sentences in the letter of the Head of the Judiciary. These people who are excluded are those who committed such crimes as the purchase, sale and trafficking of firearms; crimes of theft or robbery; crimes related to drugs and psychotropic substances if they were armed; setting up centers of corruption and prostitution; smuggling alcohol; organized, professional, large-scale smuggling of goods and foreign currency; directing or aiding to bring about major disruptions in the economic system; and crimes against internal or external security.

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Ayatollah Khamenei agrees to the pardon or reduction in sentences of thousands of convicts in recent riots

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