March 15, 2019
To mark the 40th anniversary of the revolution, Supreme Leader Ali Kha-menehi has freed more than 51,000 prisoners, an astounding number compared to the several hundred he usually pardons on major holidays.
Ali-Asghar Jahangir, head of Iran’s State Prisons and Security and Corrective Measures Organization, said 51,000 Iranian prisoners have been pardoned and another 34,000 convicts have seen their sentences reduced.
Article 110 of the Constitution grants the Supreme Leader the sole right to pardon or reduce the sentences of convicts upon a recommendation from the chairman of the Judiciary.
The new clemency applies to many definable blocs of prisoners, including those sentenced to life in prison who have remained behind bars for at least 15 years for men and at least 12 years for women.
The clemency, however, does not apply to certain types of convicts, including those who have been sentenced for their role in the armed smuggling of narcotics, arms trafficking, kidnapping, acid attacks, rape, armed robbery, bribery, embezzlement, counterfeiting, money laundering, disruption of the economy, smuggling of alcoholic drinks, and organized smuggling of other commodities.
The Judiciary has been trying to reduce the number of people in Iran’s crowded prisons and this massive clemency is likely part of that effort.