The head of Iran’s judiciary said clerics and Basij paramilitary forces were deployed to detention centers during the 2022 Woman, Life, Freedom protests in what he said was a move to offer guidance to detainees, including schoolchildren and university students.
"The events of 2022 resulted in approximately 90,000 legal cases,” judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei said on Tuesday. “The defendants and convicts in these cases came from various segments of society. Among them were, in some cases, teachers, school students, and university students.”
He said widespread prosecutions would have allowed "enemies" to exploit the unrest, so the judiciary sought assistance from non-judicial bodies.
“At that point, we sought help from seminaries, the Basij, academics, and teachers. With their presence in detention centers, the majority of those convicted in 2022 were admonished and guided,” Ejei said.
“Criminals who committed violent acts or engaged in organized operations were a separate matter,” he said. “They were dealt with legally and were not included in these measures,” he added.
The 2022 protests erupted after 22-year-old Mahsa Amini died in police custody following her arrest by Iran’s morality police over alleged hijab violations.
Human rights groups say thousands were detained, including minors, and at least eight people have been executed in connection with the protests.
