Mahsa Amini protests: Iran indicts dozens for inciting ‘riots’

Authorities in Iran said they have indicted dozens of people in connection with “riots”, as protests that erupted nearly a month ago over the death in custody of a young woman, Mahsa Amini, persist in cities across the country.

Ali Salehi, prosecutor general in Tehran, said yesterday that 60 indictments have been issued for “rioters” in the capital, according to the state-run IRNA news agency. Another 65 indictments have been issued in the southern province of Hormozgan and arrest orders were in effect for 13 more individuals, said local judiciary chief Mojtaba Ghahremani.

The officials said the indicted individuals, about whom no information was disclosed, were responsible for “creating illegal gatherings, arson, and violation of a number of government and private places”, reports Al Jazeera online.

The indictments come after Iran’s judiciary chief, Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei, had earlier ordered courts across the country to fast-track the cases of those arrested in connection with “riots” while last week, a top security official had issued a stern warning to participants.

“Anyone who is arrested at the scene of the riots will not be freed under any circumstances until the time of their trial, which will be held quickly and will issue assertive and deterring sentences,” Majid Mirahmadi, deputy for security and police affairs at the interior ministry, told local media.

However, authorities have repeatedly said that “most” of the people – including students – arrested during the protests that began last month have been released after signing declarations that they would not participate in demonstrations again.

Many dozens are thought to have been killed, and more arrested, during the protests but Iranian authorities have not published an official tally yet.

Meanwhile, Iranian security forces yesterday fired tear gas at a lawyers’ protest over Amini’s death, said a rights group, which also raised the death toll to at least 108 from the crackdown on the nearly month-long movement.

“Woman, life, freedom,” the lawyers in Tehran chanted in their first solidarity rally with the women-led demonstrations that have swept Iran since the 22-year-old’s death, said Oslo-based Iran Human Rights.

Soon after, they were seen running from under a cloud of tear gas, in footage distributed online by IHR despite a major internet outage, and one lawyer later said three of the demonstrators were arrested.

Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in a televised appearance yesterday, again accused Iran’s “enemies” of stoking “these street riots”.

“The actions of the enemy, such as propaganda, trying to influence minds, creating excitement, encouraging and even teaching the manufacture of incendiary materials, are now completely clear,” he said.