The head of Iran's Judicial Authority, Golamhossein Mohseni Ejei, announced today that he has ordered the country's prison service and prosecutors to grant 10-day leave to Christian prisoners convicted of misdemeanors so that they can spend the holidays with their families.
The reason this decision was taken is "to celebrate the New Year 2022 and the anniversary of the birth of Jesus Christ," Ejei said, according to Mizan, Iran's judicial news agency. It was not specified how many prisoners the measure applies to, nor when they will be released.
Mohseni Ezei said the decision does not apply to those convicted of crimes related to state security, organized crime, kidnapping, armed robbery, nor, moreover, to those on death row.
Iran's Christians, mainly Armenians who celebrate Christmas on 6 January, make up only 1% of the country's population. Most Iranians are Shia Muslims.
The supreme religious leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, annually pardons or commutes prisoners' sentences on the occasion of major Muslim or national holidays. But it is rare for pardons to be granted to members of the Christian minority.
This year, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi visited in Tehran the family of an Armenian Christian who was "martyred" on Christmas Day during the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war, the official Irna news agency reported.
Source: APE-MPA
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