The Iranian judiciary wants to investigate the possibility of pardoning some prisoners on holiday due to the coronavirus crisis. „At the direction of the chief of justice, 500 committees of the judicial authority will investigate the subject from today,“ said justice spokesman Gholam-Hussein Ismaili last night.
A decision on possible pardons and mitigation of punishment should be made by April 29, as the spokesman for the state broadcaster IRIB said. He did not say what the criteria for a pardon are and whether they will also apply to political prisoners.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, tens of thousands of prisoners in Iran had been given temporary prison leave in mid-March. Initially, the prison leave was only valid until the end of the Persian New Year holidays on April 2, but then it was extended until the middle and then until the end of April. Already before the Persian New Year on March 20, 10,000 were pardoned. Some political prisoners were also allowed on holiday.
