Iran orders judges to hit main instigators of riots with tough sentences

TEHRAN, Iran — Iran’s judges have been issued orders against handing down soft sentences for people found to be the “main elements of riots” that flared over Mahsa Amini’s death, the judiciary said.

A wave of unrest has gripped the Islamic republic since Amini died on September 16 after her arrest by the morality police in Tehran for allegedly violating the country’s strict dress code for women.

The street violence has led to dozens of deaths — mostly of protesters but also members of the security forces — and hundreds have been arrested.

“Iran’s judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei ordered judges to avoid… issuing weak sentences for the main elements of these riots,” said the judiciary’s Mizan Online website.

“Undue sympathy and weak sentences for the main elements are an injustice to the people,” Ejei was quoted as saying.

“At the same time, some stages of leniency should be considered for people who are included among the less guilty elements,” he said.

Iran has charged more than 100 people over the “riots” in Tehran and the southern Hormozgan province alone, the judiciary said on Wednesday.

The judiciary chief echoed remarks by Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who on Wednesday referred to the involvement of “enemies” in the protests.

“Undoubtedly, such events, in which the behind-the-scenes hands of the enemies are visible, should not stop us from moving forward and progressing in different sectors,” said Ejei.