CNN
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Iran’s former president Mohammad Khatami has urged the present authorities to be extra lenient with protesters, amid ongoing nationwide demonstrations representing the most important problem to the Islamic Republic in many years.
The reformist mentioned the federal government should hearken to the demonstrators earlier than it’s too late, in a message on Tuesday forward of College students’ Day – which marks the anniversary of the homicide of three college college students in 1953 by Iranian police underneath Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi’s regime.
“I counsel the officers to understand this presence and as a substitute of coping with it inappropriately, take a softer strategy and hearken to them and with their assist, acknowledge the fallacious elements of governance earlier than it’s too late for them to maneuver in the direction of good governance,” mentioned Khatami, concerning the federal government’s dealing with of the protests.
The anti-government demonstrations have been sparked by the dying of a 22-year-old Kurdish Iranian lady in September. Mahsa Amini died after she was arrested by the morality police for allegedly not sporting her hijab correctly.
Authorities have since unleashed a lethal crackdown on demonstrators, with a minimum of 448 folks having been killed within the unrest, in accordance with the group Iran Human Rights.
CNN can not independently confirm the arrest determine or the dying toll – exact figures are unimaginable for anybody outdoors the Iranian authorities to substantiate. Completely different estimates have been given by opposition teams, worldwide rights organizations and native journalists.
Khatami mentioned the rules of freedom and safety would not have to be mutually unique.
“Simply as freedom is an pressing want and an essential demand, safety can also be essential for the nation.”
“It shouldn’t be allowed that freedom and safety to be positioned towards one another, and because of this, freedom is trampled underneath the pretext of sustaining safety, or safety, which is a situation for the institution of order and good order in society, is ignored within the identify of freedom,” Khatami defined.
The previous chief additionally emphasised that it is very important pay “consideration to the rightful calls for of the society.”
Khatami appeared to put blame on Iran’s authorities just a few weeks in the past when he tweeted that “bitter occasions” in Iran have been being brought on by the “defective and incorrect mechanism and methodology of governance.”
Khatami additionally referred to as the phrase “Zan (lady), Zendegi (life), Azadi (freedom),” an exquisite message “that reveals the motion in the direction of a greater future.” The phrase – “Girl, Life, Freedom” – is a chant taken from the Kurdish slogan Jin Jiyan Azadi and has been echoed all through the demonstrations as a name for better freedoms for ladies in Iran.
Different Iranian public figures have additionally lately referred to as on the federal government to take motion to pay attention and defend protesters.
Distinguished Iranian Sunni cleric Molavi Abdolhamid Ismaeelzahi invoked the nation’s judiciary to research and prosecute people abusing girls in prisons.
A CNN investigation revealed the abuse endured by feminine prisoners in Iran’s infamous detention amenities, with survivors and eyewitnesses who left the nation talking out in regards to the sexual assault they suffered.
In a tweet on Tuesday, Ismaeelzahi mentioned, “information in regards to the sexual assault of feminine prisoners with the intention of humiliating, suppressing and forcing them for confessions have been reported within the media, and a few prisoners’ accounts affirm this.”
“If confirmed, the most important corrupters on earth are the perpetrators of those crimes,” he mentioned, referring to a cost given to some protesters who have been sentenced to dying.
“It’s essential for the judiciary to prosecute these folks and punish them severely.”
