Iran has pardoned 100 political prisoners in an attempt to appease the country’s opposition and reduce tensions seven months before parliamentary elections.
Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, ordered the release from jail of a number of prisoners recommended to him by the head of the judiciary, Sadeq Larijani, to mark Eid al-Fitr, the Muslim festival at the end of the holy month of Ramadan.
The mass release is the latest attempt by Iran to ease the country’s tense political atmosphere prior to parliamentary elections in March 2012. Authorities have recently given more space to opposition newspapers and have shown more restraint in dealing with criticism.
Source: The Guardian
Iran has pardoned 100 political prisoners in an attempt to appease the country’s opposition and reduce tensions seven months before parliamentary elections.
Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, ordered the release from jail of a number of prisoners recommended to him by the head of the judiciary, Sadeq Larijani, to mark Eid al-Fitr, the Muslim festival at the end of the holy month of Ramadan.
The mass release is the latest attempt by Iran to ease the country’s tense political atmosphere prior to parliamentary elections in March 2012. Authorities have recently given more space to opposition newspapers and have shown more restraint in dealing with criticism.
Source: The Guardian