Ayatollah Khamenei's untrue statements about freedom of expression in the country and calling the opposition unfair

In a speech on the first day of 2018 in Mashhad, Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei spoke about the freedom enjoyed by the Iranian people and said that in Iran , " No one is persecuted or pressured because their opinion is contrary to the government's ." He continued, "Anyone who makes such a claim is lying, and no one should object to this. "

Ali Khamenei has spoken about freedom of expression in the country at a time when three government critics, Mir Hossein Mousavi, Mehdi Karroubi, and Zahra Rahnavard, have been in prison for more than seven years without a fair trial. In addition, more than six thousand people were arrested during the so-called nationwide protests in January. In addition, dozens of civil and political activists are currently serving long prison sentences for peacefully expressing their opinions.

In his speech at the Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad, where, according to tradition, the speech takes place every year on the first day of the year, the leader claimed freedom in Iran and called opponents of this view liars and unfair .

Referring to the 40th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution in the new year, the Iranian leader said that in Iran, “ there is freedom of thought, freedom of expression, and freedom of choice. ” He claimed that some people are “ acting unfairly ” and “ taking advantage of the existing freedom and saying that there is no freedom in the country .” He continued his remarks by referring to “ foreign radio stations ” that “ reflect ” the words of some unfair people about the lack of freedom in the country.

In his next sentence, Ayatollah Khamenei stated that freedom in the republic is in accordance with “the constitution, the laws of the country, and the Sharia.” He said: “The framework for freedom in the Islamic Republic is the ‘constitution and the laws of the country,’ and all of these laws are also inspired by the Sharia.” Laws and the Sharia have practically limited and shortened the path to freedom.

Khamenei also spoke about independence and justice in the country. Stating that “ no country in the world today can match the independence of the Iranian nation, ” he said : “ All nations of the world have some kind of consideration for the powers that be. The nation whose votes are not influenced by any nation is the Iranian nation. ”

The Iranian leader also referred to his previous speech on February 20, saying, "A few weeks ago, I said that we are lagging behind in justice. That is my opinion , but the ill-wishers used it differently, interpreting it as meaning that the country has not made any moves regarding justice. "

He considered Mosaddeh Adalat to be a comparison of Iran with the era of forty years ago, and said : "If you compare our country with the era before the revolution or with many other countries, you will see that here the class gap is smaller, the abilities of the weak are greater, and the generality of education, health, and other things is certainly greater than in many other countries."

Ali Khamenei had said in a speech on February 20: “We are lagging behind in terms of justice; there is no doubt about this; we ourselves admit it, we admit it.” In another part of his speech, he had apologized to the people and said: “We must apologize to God Almighty and to the dear people. We have a problem with justice, and God willing, with the efforts of efficient and faithful men and women, we will make progress in this area as well.”

However, a month later, in a speech on the first day of Farvardin, he said that ill-wishers had misused his words.

Continuing his remarks on the first day of Farvardin about the situation in Iran being better than elsewhere, Khamenei also referred to the economic sector and said: "Another statistic, which is also related to the World Bank and is part of international statistics, is this: Before the revolution, the absolute poor made up 46 percent of the Iranian nation, meaning that almost half of the Iranian nation was in the absolute poor. In 2014, this number has increased from 46 to 9.5 percent. This means that this much work has been done."

However, the arrests and heavy sentences for various groups of protesters, such as workers, students, political and civil activists, women, and lawyers, as well as the denial of the right to hold peaceful gatherings and protests for groups that opposed the regime and were protesting for their rights, clearly contradict Ali Khamenei's statements on the first day of Farvardin 2018.

He also claims a good economy and a small number of poor people in society, while about three months ago, the lower income groups took to the streets and nationwide protests were held due to the high cost of bread and other economic problems. According to official statistics, at least 25 people were killed and nearly 5,000 were arrested in these protests. Also, according to statements by officials from the Ministry of Science, legal cases have been filed against many of the students who were arrested for protesting and holding opposing views, and they are awaiting their trials.

Source: Iran Human Rights Campaign