On the 157th day since the beginning of Iran’s nationwide protests pivoting around the slogan “women, life, freedom,” this report provides a statistical review of the protests and a preliminary summary of the recent mass releases of prisoners.
Over this period, 165 cities from all provinces and 144 universities witnessed a total of 1280 protests. In recent weeks, however, the street protests have been decreasing due to the regime’s crackdown, among other reasons. Nonetheless, the protests in different forms, individually or collectively, are ongoing. These protests received widespread support from Iranian public figures, including actors, as well as the workers of various industry sectors joining the protests by taking strike actions.
Based on data collected from 288 obtained reports, officials’ statements and grassroots reports, HRANA estimates that at least 19763 people were arrested during the nationwide protests.
So far, HRANA has identified 5209 of these people. Of these detainees, 4057 are men, including 131 under 18, and 971 women, including 48 minors.
These detainees include 723 students, 192 civil rights activists, 181 minors, 82 journalists, 55 political activists, 42 lawyers, 41 trade union activists, 40 athletes, 36 worker’s rights activists, 32 cinema, theatre actors/actresses, 27 singers or musicians, 27 writers or translators, 24 bloggers or social media influencers, 24 women’s rights activists, 23 Baha’is, 10 scholars or university professors, 7 poets, 6 foreign nationals, 2 of the Jewish community.
According to obtained reports, the regime forces killed 530 protestors, of which, HRANA can independently verify 271 cases. HRANA is working to review other cases.
Of these 530 killed protestors, 71 were underage. 411 victims are men and 48 are women.
Apart from 530 killed protestors, during the crash between the protests and the regime forces, 70 police officers, and security or regime militia forces were killed.
Over this period, 25 individuals received death sentences for protests, of which the death sentences of four people were carried out. 13 death sentences have been issued initially awaiting confirmation by the Supreme Court of Iran. So far, the Supreme Court has quashed six death verdicts and delivered the case to another court branch for a retrial. Two verdicts, which confirmation was reportedly announced, are still under review by the Supreme Court.
Summary of Mass Releases
Earlier, the head of the Judiciary proposed to pardon or commute the sentences of some prisoners as an enactment of Article 110, paragraph 11 of the constitution, which was approved by Ali Khamenei under some conditions which the legal case should meet.
Following this approval, in recent days, especially since February 9, judicial officials commenced large-scale releases of some prisoners arrested at recent nationwide protests as well as the prisoners of conscience who were already jailed or serving their sentences.
The detained protestors were pardoned provided that their legal case met the criteria proposed by the judiciary and then approved by Ali Khamenei, Iran’s Supreme Leader.
The convicts and detainees arrested prior to nationwide protests, however, received amnesty after reviewing their case by the judiciary and then approved by the Supreme Leader.
Regarding the number of pardoned prisoners, Iran’s judicial officials’ statements contradict each other. Nonetheless, considering twelve official statements, the sentences of 6169 prisoners have been either pardoned or commuted. It is still unknown how many protestors are among these pardoned prisoners. Some non-political prisoners have also been released under this pardon decree.
The following are the most known pardoned prisoners listed by release date. The freed prisoners whose details of their release and further proceeding of their legal cases are unknown have also been included.
February 9-10
Sahba Farnoush (Baha’i citizen)
Nooshin Jafari (Baha’i citizen)
Haleh Gholami (Baha’i citizen)
Afsaneh Emami (Baha’i citizen)
Hamid Naseri (Baha’i citizen)
Saeed Naseri (Baha’i citizen)
released from Evin Prison, Tehran
Roozbeh Piri (Azerbaijani Turk Activist) from Tabriz Prison
Mohammad Gholamzadeh, released from the Great Tehran Penitentiary
Hossein Mohammadi Yazdi,
Mehdi Moghaddari,
released from Dastgerd Prison, Isfahan.
Neda Mohseni, released from Dolatabad Prison, Isfahan
Freed prisoners whose conditions of their release are unknown:
Sara Sabet Rasekh, released from a prisoner in Isfahan
Nabil Movafaghi, released from Sari
Yousef Moradi, released from Ezbaram Prison, Lahijan
Reza Keshvari, released from the Central Prison of Karaj
Mina Afshari,
Mahshid Zahedpasand, released from Qarchak Prison, Varamin
Farhad Meysami from Rajai Shahr Prison, Karaj
February 10-11
Shapour Ehsani Rad,
Khosro Sadeghi Boroujeni,
Zhila Karamzadeh Makvandi,
Fardin Nadafian Qamsari (Baha’i citizen),
Zaman Fadaie (Christian Convert),
released from Evin Prison
Arsham (Mahmood) Rezaei,
Ali Musa-Nejad Farkoosh,
Arash Ganji,
Pouria Mazroob,
released from Rajai Shahr Prison
Ahmad Taghavi, released from Abhar Prison
Vajiheh Pari Zanganeh,
Hossein Nasiri,
released from a prison in Isfahan
Zahra Mohammadi, released from Sanandaj Correctional Center
Vahid Bagheri, released from the Great Tehran Penitentiary
Khaled Pirzadeh, released from Sheiban Prison, Ahvaz,
Hadi Mohseni
Freed prisoners whose conditions of their release are unknown:
Mehdi Darini,
Shahram Najaf Tomaraei (Baha’i citizen),
Amir-Abbas Azarmvand (Journalist),
Fariba Adelkhah (French-Iranian academic),
released from Evin Prison
Adel Gorji,
Hossein Keyhani,
Meysam Mohammadi,
Mahmood Ali Naghi,
Mehdi Savar Olia,
Kaveh Daroshafa,
Yashar Daroshafa,
released from Rajai Shahr Prison, Karaj
Fahimeh Soltani, released from a prison in Isfahan
February 11-12
Mohammad-Reza Moradi, released from the Great Tehran Penitentiary
Amir-Mehdi Khadem,
Naser Hemati,
released from Dastgerd Prison, Isfahan
Freed prisoners whose conditions of their release are unknown:
Nasrollah Lashti, released from Rajai Shahr Prison
Fariba Afshar (Baha’i citizen),
Elmira Rahmani (Baha’i citizen),
released from Dolatabad Prison, Isfahan
Niloofar Mirzaie, released from Evin Prison,
Zahra Kashkaki, released from a prison in Tehran
Besmellah Barahooie (minor),
Esmail Sargolzaie (minor),
Ebrahim Sargolzaie (minor),
released from the Correctional Center of Zahedan
February 12-13
Mostafa Abdi (Gonabadi Dervish),
Kazem Alinejad Baralou,
Farshad Ahmadi,
released from Evin Prison
Khadijeh Mehdipour, released from Ilam Prison
Mahsa Mohammadi, released from a prison in Isfahan
Tohid Goreishi,
Esmail Gerami (worker’s rights activist),
Mojtaba Tavakol,
Shahrooz Ramezan Afshar,
Mehdi Abbaspour,
Zartosht Ahmadi Ragheb,
released from Rajai Shahr Prison, Karaj
Freed prisoners whose conditions of their release are unknown:
Soheila Ojaghi from Qarchak Prison, Varamin
Mohammad Rasoulof (Film director),
Forough Taghipour,
Akbar Naeimi (Azerbaijani (Turk) activist),
Maryam Mohammadi,
Asrin Darkaleh,
from Evin Prison
February 13-14
Akbar Faraji (Farajim),
Elvar Gholivand,
Mahnaz Tarah,
released from Evin Prison
Morteza Ghaderi,
Ahad Barzgar,
released from Rajai Shahr Prison, Karaj
Masoud Kurdpour, released from Bukan Prison
Freed prisoners whose conditions of their release are unknown:
Hossein Toyoori,
Ashkan Omrjooie,
Pouya Mazloumi,
Ramin Pouramin,
released from the Great Tehran Penitentiary
February 14-15
Nazanin Mohammadnejad,
Bahareh Soleimani,
from Evin Prison
Soheil Yadollahi from Bojnurd Prison
Reza Mohammad Hosseini,
Reza Khandan Mahabadi,
Peyman Pourdad,
Mohammad Turkmani,
released from Rajai Shahr Prison
Akbar Azadifar, released from Kuhdasht Prison
Freed prisoners whose conditions of their release are unknown:
Mojgan Ilanlu (Documentary filmmaker),
Mehrnoosh Zarei Hanzaki (journalism),
released from Evin Prison
Monireh Arabshahi,
Yasaman Aryani,
released from Kachooie Prison
Saeed Allahverdi, released from Adel-Abad Prison, Shiraz
Beniamin Moghaddasi, released from a prison in Tehran
February 15-16
Ali-Asghar Hassani Rad, released from Evin Prison
Sakineh Parvaneh from Vakilabad Prison, Mashhad
Abdollah Eitook, released from Behbahan Prison
Freed prisoners whose conditions of their release are unknown:
Ahmad Raisi,
Yasin Jamali,
Alireza Hatami,
released from Evin Prison
Ayat Arefinia from Ilam Prison
Mosa’ab Sediji (minor), released from Jask Prison
February 16-17
Astiaj Haghighi
Amir-Mohammad Ahmadi,
from Qarchak Prison, Varamin
Soheil Jahangiri,
Saeed Fathi,
released from Dastgerd Isfahan
Kamal Jafari Yazdi, released from Vakilabad Prison, Mashhad
Also, on February 19, Yaser Niayesh was released from Behbahan Prison, Armin Sharifi Rad, from the Central Prison of Karaj, and Kasra Bani-Amerian, from Rajai Shahr Prison.
On February 20, Siamak Honarvar (Baha’i citizen) was released from Adel-Abad prison, Mohammad Irannejad from Rajai Shahr Prison, and Mazaher Heydari (Gonabadi Dervish) from Shahrekord Prison.
Following the directive to “pardon or commute” the sentences of some prisoners, some of these prisoners were forced to sign a “statement of repentance” as a condition for amnesty. It raised strong objections by some jurists since such a statement can legally be used as an admission of guilt against signatories on the pre-trial due process.
Many freed prisoners, however, refused to sign this statement and some even said that they did not even request for amnesty.
Moreover, the legal cases against some prisoners, including the list below, were closed:
Milad Alavi (Journalist)
Elham Sayrafi
Amir Sheibani Zaveh
Zeinab Mousavi (Comedian)
Mojtaba Esmaili (Nima), a member of the Society of Students Against Poverty
Hadi Sepehri, arrested at recent nationwide protests
Faezeh Abdipour
Anis Mohammadi
Also, several prisoners including Baha’i citizens Soroush Agahi, Peyman Ma’anavi, Parvan Ma’anavi, Jamileh Pakroo, Elham Salmanzadeh, Kianoosh Salmanzadeh, Neda Shabani and Payam Shabani, who were serving their sentences outside the prison with electronic tags, were set free and the restrictions were removed.
Judicial officials have not yet provided any comprehensive statistics about these prison releases, the following sporadic statements can be informative:
The Chief Justice of Kerman Province announced that to take the directive of “pardon and commute” into effect, about 1500 prisoners have been released and the sentences against about 2000 prisoners were commuted in this province.
Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor Office announced the release of 106 convicts and defendants from Dogonbadan Prison. “The sentences of 60 other prisoners have been also reduced,” he added.
The head of the Great Tehran Penitentiary announced that by February 11, 395 prisoners and detained defendants were freed from this prison and the rest of the requests are under review.
Regarding the students’ protests, according to a Sharif University of Technology official, ” the anniversary of the Iranian Islamic Revolution, the dean of Sharif University decided to close 75% of 330 students’ disciplinary files. However, 60 files have been sent to the hearing panel, and about 40 cases have been decided.”
The Chief Justice of Bushehr Province informed the public about the release of 399 prisoners and the commutation of 300 sentences in this province.
Similarly, the Chief Justice of Isfahan Province announced the release of 986 prisoners and detainees in this province.
The Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor of Kermanshah Province announced the release of 441 prisoners.
The General Director of prisons in Ardabil province announced the release of 184 inmates from Ardabil prisons by February 13.
Chief Justice of Pakdasht stated that 400 inmates were pardoned and released. Of these released prisoners, 20 were arrested during recent nationwide protests.
The head of Mahabad Prison also announced the release of 200 pardoned prisoners and the reduction in the sentences of 160 others.
Chief Justice of Kurdistan Province stated that in this province 701 prisoners were pardoned, of which 252 were convicted or accused over protests. The sentences of 449 individuals were commuted.
Lastly, the Chief Justice of South Khorasan claimed that 99.5% of people convicted over protests were pardoned.
Earlier, HRANA provided a comprehensive report of the First 82 days of nationwide protests.
