Some 22,000 people arrested during recent protests in Iran that swept the Islamic Republic have been pardoned, according to the country’s judiciary chief.
Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejehi was quoted as announcing the figure by state news agency IRNA on Monday.
He claimed that a total of 82,656 prisoners and accused persons had been pardoned, and of these, some 22,000 had been arrested during the protests.
Mr. Ejehi added that those pardoned had not committed theft or violent crimes.
Earlier reports had suggested that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei could pardon many who were caught up in the protests ahead of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.
Months of ongoing protests were sparked in September by the murder of a 22-year-old Mahsa Amini after being detained by the country’s vice squad.
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The judiciary’s announcement suggests Iran’s theocracy now feels safe enough to admit the scale of the unrest, which marked one of the most serious challenges to the establishment since the aftermath of the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Tens of thousands of people were also detained in the purges that followed the revolution.
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But many are still angry as the nation struggles with the collapse of its currency, the rial, as well as economic hardship and uncertainty in its ties with the rest of the world after the collapse of the Tehran nuclear deal. with world powers in 2015.
Last month, Iran acknowledged that “tens of thousands” had been detained in recent protests, so Mr Ejehi’s announcement on Monday offered an even higher figure than campaigners had previously cited.
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Human Rights Activists, an Iranian group that tracks the crackdown, reported that more than 19,700 people were arrested during the protests.
The group claimed that at least 530 people had been killed as authorities violently suppressed protests.
