Iran says it has pardoned over 22K anti-government protesters

Iran’s judiciary chief said Monday that authorities have pardoned more than 22,000 individuals who participated in anti-government protests, according to the state-run IRNA news agency. 

Iranian judiciary head Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei said that a total of 82,656 prisoners had been pardoned, of which 22,628 had been detained during mass demonstrations over the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, per The Associated Press. 

Amini died last September after she was arrested by Iran’s morality police for allegedly not wearing her hijab correctly. Her death sparked mass protests across the country, which authorities met with violent suppression.

Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, acknowledged that Iranian authorities had detained “tens of thousands” of protesters last month, when he initially ordered an amnesty or reduction in prison sentences for protesters.

According to human rights activists in Iran, more than 19,700 people have been arrested and at least 530 were killed amid the demonstrations.