Iran Hijab Protest — Iranian authorities announced Monday that they will hold public trials of 1,000 people in the capital Tehran over protests that have gripped the country. The mass indictments represent the government’s first major legal action aimed at suppressing dissent since the unrest broke out more than six weeks ago.
Iran’s state news agency IRNA quoted judicial officials as saying that a thousand people who were central to the protests would be brought to justice in Tehran alone for their “subversive actions”, including assaulting security guards, setting fire to public property and setting fire to public property. other charges.
Nationwide protests first erupted over the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini on September 16 in the custody of the local moral police. She was detained for allegedly violating Iran’s strict dress code for women. Although the protests first focused on Iran’s mandatory headscarf, or hijab, it has since morphed into one of the biggest challenges to the ruling clerics since the chaotic years after the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
“Those who intend to confront and subvert the regime are dependent on foreigners and will be punished according to legal standards,” Iran’s judiciary chief Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejei said, hinting that some protesters would be charged with collaborating with foreign governments. Tehran officials have repeated baseless claims that the unrest was fueled by Iran’s foreign enemies.
“Our judges will no doubt deal with the cases of the recent riots accurately and swiftly,” he said.
Security forces dispersed the gatherings with live ammunition and tear gas during weeks of ongoing protests. At least 270 people were killed and 14,000 arrested, according to the group Human Rights Activists in Iran. Demonstrations continue – even as the dreaded paramilitary Revolutionary Guards have warned young Iranians to stop.
Ejei argued that the prosecutors were trying to distinguish between angry Iranians who were merely trying to vent their grievances on the streets and those who wanted to overthrow the theocracy.
“Even among the agitators, it should be clarified who had the focus on confronting the system and overthrowing it,” he said.
Judicial authorities have announced charges against hundreds of people in other Iranian provinces. Some were accused of “corrupting the earth” and “warring against God”, crimes punishable by death.