Judiciary Chief: Iran Ready for Opening Jails to Human Rights Advocates

“Anyone who claims to be an advocate of human rights can visit the Iranian prisons and the situation of inmates, whenever they want, to see in which country human rights are respected,” Rayeesi said in a televised interview on Sunday night.

He also referred to the coronavirus epidemic across the world, and said the number of prisoners who were furloughed since the disease’s outbreak in Iran is not comparable to other states.

“More than 120,000 prisoners were furloughed due to the coronavirus outbreak to protect their health and lives which is unprecedented in the world,” Rayeesi said.

Iran’s Judiciary Spokesman Gholamhossein Esmayeeli had announced last August that his country had authorized temporary leaves for more than 100,000 prisoners, to prevent the outbreak of the new coronavirus in jails across the country.

“Over 100,000 inmates have been furloughed in different periods since the outbreak of coronavirus (in Iran) so that they and their family members will not have any concerns,” Esmayeeli said.

He added that at present 60,000 prisoners have been furloughed, noting that many of those who have used this possibility have been freed or their prison terms have been commuted after the Supreme Leader’s clemency on the occasion of different Islamic Eids.