Authorities in Iran claim that they have indicted hundreds of individuals in connection with “riots” as demonstrations over the death in detention of a young lady, Mahsa Amini, continue in towns around the nation.
According to the state-run news agency, Ali Salehi, the prosecutor general of Tehran, said on Wednesday that 60 charges had been made against “rioters” in the city. According to the head of the local court, Mojtaba Ghahremani, an additional 65 indictments and 13 arrest warrants have been issued in the southern Iranian province of Hormozgan.
The authorities said that the accused persons, about whom no information was released, were responsible for “forming unlawful gatherings, arson, and violating a variety of government and private locations.”
The charges came after Iran’s top judge, Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei, instructed courts throughout the nation to expedite the cases of those detained in connection with “riots,” and a senior security official issued a solid warning to participants last week.
However, officials have consistently said that the “vast majority” of those detained during the protests last month, including students, have been freed after signing pledges that they would not engage in future rallies.
During the demonstrations, it is believed that dozens were murdered and more were imprisoned, although Iranian officials have not yet released an official figure.
More than 20 members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the police, and the paramilitary Basij force, according to state television, were reportedly slain during the protests. President Ebrahim Raisi and other high-ranking officials met with or called their families.
Majid Mirahmadi, deputy minister of the interior for security and police affairs, told local media, “Anyone detained at the site of the riots will not be released under any circumstances until the time of their trial, which will be convened swiftly and will impose firm and deterrent penalties.”
