Upon a proposal by Judiciary Chief Ayatollah Ebrahim Raeisi on the occasion of the birth anniversary of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) and Imam Sadeq (AS), Supreme Leader of Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei agreed to pardon or commute the jail terms of 3,780 prisoners sentenced by the public and Islamic revolutionary courts in Iran, said Gholam-Hossein Esmaeili in a press conference.
Esmaeili said that from the mentioned number, 2301 prisoners were freed from prison, 157 of whom with security charges that had participated over the riots of the past three years.
He also added that 16 nationals of other Islamic countries were also among the prisoners pardoned on the occasion of Islamic Unity Week.
The 17th day of Rabi al-Awwal of Islamic lunar year, fallen on November 3 this year, is believed by Shia Muslims to be the birth anniversary of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH), while Sunni Muslims mark the 12th day of the month as the birthday of the Prophet [PBUH].
The founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, late Imam Khomeini, named the interval between the two dates as the "Islamic Unity Week" back in the 1980s, which has ever since been celebrated every year.
Esmaeili said that the sentences of some 40,000 convicts have been either commuted or pardoned in the past 18 months. Half of the prisoners were freed.
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