Most of Those Arrested are Unemployed or Low-Income
The head of Iran’s prison organization says three provinces had no prison admissions during the recent nationwide protests. Tehran’s police commander announced that 27 percent of those arrested in the capital were supporters of the Mujahedin and monarchists.
Hossein Rahimi, commander of Tehran’s law enforcement force, announced that “between 25 to 27 percent of those detained in the recent unrest in the capital were from the spectrum of opposition guidance, particularly monarchists.”
Earlier, a spokesman and public relations official of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps had stated: “The enemy, by exploiting modern media and the generational gap that has emerged in the country, is trying to present the Pahlavi government as a leader.”
General Rahimi, on the sidelines of a pro-government rally, claimed: “In these riots, many directed individuals were present who had been trained and operated in groups of four to five people.”
He added that protesters were unable to carry out activities like in other cities due to police control and management of the situation.
Meanwhile, Asgarollah Jahangirah, head of Iran’s prison organization, reported in a session of the Supreme Judicial Council that three provinces in the country had no prison admissions during the recent protests. He did not name these provinces.
The Mehr News Agency reported, quoting Mr. Jahangirah, that a significant number of those arrested have been released: “With the follow-up by the Tehran prosecutor and investigators who were working until 2 o’clock last night, the number of these individuals is increasing.” However, police commanders in Fars, Lorestan, and Hamadan reported the detention of 34 more protesters in Shiraz, Hamadan, and Khorramabad.
No official source has yet announced the total number of detainees during the recent protests, but human rights organizations and scattered reports indicate the arrest of at least 4,800 people. The commander of the police force announced the “arrest of 180 leaders” of protest events a few days ago.
Ibrahim Raisi, head of Iran’s judiciary, said the fate of recently detained individuals should be determined as soon as possible and decisions should be made for those who “have lesser guilt.”
The leader of the Islamic Republic called the protesters “evildoers,” and officials from the Revolutionary Guards and the judicial system also describe them as “rioters.” This is while the spokesman of the parliament’s national security and foreign policy committee quoted a representative of the Ministry of Intelligence as saying: “Most of those arrested are unemployed or employed in low-income jobs.”
Many of those arrested are being held in Fashafuyeh Prison, 32 kilometers south of Tehran; a prison that was originally a detention facility for drug offenders but in recent years has become a place of imprisonment for political prisoners and Dervishes and is described as having inhumane conditions. The head of Ray’s city council warned that Fashafuyeh does not have the capacity and facilities for this volume of detainees.
Source: DW
