While Iran’s government has launched wide-scale propaganda regarding the conditional release of some political prisoners, Etemad daily reports there has been no amnesty for environmental activists.
Etemad wrote Monday that there are still seven environmental activists behind bars while more than five years have passed since they were arrested.
“It seems that not only they are not included in this amnesty, but they are also deprived of their normal rights such as parole,” added Etemad.
According to the daily, all the people in this case have served half of their sentences and on the other hand, none of them have a criminal record.
This comes as according to Article 58 of the Islamic Penal Code, those sentenced to prison for more than 10 years can be released if they serve half of their term, and other convicts can be released from prison after serving a third of their term.
Etemad emphasized that environmental activists have been "deprived of this legal right".
Nine environmentalists and ecologists were arrested in 2018 on charges of espionage. All were members of the Persian World Heritage Foundation, an NGO dedicated to conserving wildlife in Iran, and are serving sentences from four to 10 years. Kavous Seyed-Emami, the NGO’s founder, was found dead in his cell two weeks after his detention, with the authorities reporting suicide and the family denying the claim.
