TEHRAN, Iran – February 6 (ONLINE) Iranian activists on Sunday dismissed Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s decree reportedly ordering amnesty or a reduction in prison sentences for “tens of thousands” of people detained amid nationwide anti-government protests shaking the country, acknowledging for the first time the scale of the crackdown.
“Khamenei’s hypocritical pardon doesn’t change anything,” said Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam of the Oslo-based group Iran Human Rights.
“Not only all protesters must be released unconditionally, but also it is a public right that those who ordered the bloody repression and their agents are held accountable.”
The decree by Khamenei, part of a yearly pardoning by the supreme leader before the anniversary of the 1979 revolution, comes as a long-detained opposition leader called for a nationwide referendum on whether to write a new constitution for Iran.
State media also published a list of caveats over the order that would disqualify those with ties abroad or facing spying charges — allegations which have been met with wide international criticism.
Khamenei “agreed to offer amnesty and reduce the sentences of tens of thousands accused and convicted in the recent incidents,” the state-run IRNA news agency said in a Farsi report.
A later IRNA report carried by its English-language service said the pardons and commuted sentences were for “tens of thousands of convicts, including the arrestees of the recent riots in Iran.” Authorities did not immediately acknowledge the discrepancy in the reports.
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