False amnesty amid antigovernment protests and widespread arrests

In a deceptive gesture, Ali Khamenei, the clerical regime's leader, approved of amnesty offers for a number of prisoners. The majority of beneficiaries were prisoners serving time because they lacked the means to pay fines.

Khamenei's decree for prisoners' release clearly stated that political prisoners, mentioned as "counterrevolutionary groups", were not included in the amnesty.

The hollow show of amnesty comes at a time when popular uprisings, student protests and workers' strikes and Resistance activities inside the country are on the rise. The mullahs' regime has unleashed a new drive to arrest antigovernment workers and students. At the same time, the Intelligence Ministry has re-arrested a considerable number of former political prisoners.

Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran
February 11, 1998

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