Iran Christian Prisoners Get Rare 10-Day Holiday Leave

A prison guard stands along a corridor in Tehran's Evin prison, Iran, June 13, 2006. (Reuters Photo)
A prison guard stands along a corridor in Tehran's Evin prison, Iran, June 13, 2006. (Reuters Photo)
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Iran Christian Prisoners Get Rare 10-Day Holiday Leave

A prison guard stands along a corridor in Tehran's Evin prison, Iran, June 13, 2006. (Reuters Photo)
A prison guard stands along a corridor in Tehran's Evin prison, Iran, June 13, 2006. (Reuters Photo)

The head of Iran's judiciary on Sunday granted Christian prisoners 10 days' liberty to spend the holidays with families, in a rare move towards the minority community.

Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejei instructed authorities across the country to issue the dispensation, according to the judiciary's Mizan Online website.

"The decision is to mark the New Year 2022 and the anniversary of the birth of Jesus Christ," the website said.

Mizan Online did not say how many Christian prisoners will benefit from the furlough, or when the 10-day period starts.

It said, however, that inmates convicted for undermining security, organized crime, abductions, armed robberies and those sentenced to death would be exempted.

According to local media, Christians represent just one percent of Iran's total population of 83 million, the majority of whom are Shiite Muslims.

Most Christians in Iran are Armenians who celebrate Christmas on January 6, the day of the Epiphany.

Around that time of year, some shops in Tehran and major cities put up decorations, including Christmas trees while people dressed up as Santa Claus stand outside stores.

Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei often grants amnesty to prisoners or reduces their sentences to mark Muslim holidays.

But it is rare for Iranian authorities to announce such measures concerning members of the Islamic republic's Christian minority.

This year Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi visited the Tehran home of the family of a Christian Armenian "martyr" who died in the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war on Christmas Eve, the official IRNA news agency reported.



Hundreds Rally in Paris for Iranian Women’s Rights

A protester holds a placard as she takes part in a march on the second anniversary of a protest movement sparked by the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, 22, arrested for allegedly violating the dress code for women at Place de la Bastille, in Paris on September 15, 2024. (AFP)
A protester holds a placard as she takes part in a march on the second anniversary of a protest movement sparked by the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, 22, arrested for allegedly violating the dress code for women at Place de la Bastille, in Paris on September 15, 2024. (AFP)
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Hundreds Rally in Paris for Iranian Women’s Rights

A protester holds a placard as she takes part in a march on the second anniversary of a protest movement sparked by the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, 22, arrested for allegedly violating the dress code for women at Place de la Bastille, in Paris on September 15, 2024. (AFP)
A protester holds a placard as she takes part in a march on the second anniversary of a protest movement sparked by the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, 22, arrested for allegedly violating the dress code for women at Place de la Bastille, in Paris on September 15, 2024. (AFP)

Hundreds of people marched through Paris on Sunday in support of women's rights and the opposition in Iran, two years after the death of Mahsa Amini sparked protests against the country's religious authorities.

A 22-year-old Iranian Kurd, Amini died in custody after being arrested for allegedly violating the country’s strict dress code for women.

The march, organized by around 20 human rights associations, took place as 34 women began a hunger strike in a Tehran prison to mark the two-year anniversary of her death.

Chirinne Ardakani, a Franco-Iranian lawyer and member of the "Iran Justice" collective, said that the "sacrifices" made by Iranians opposed to the regime were "not in vain".

"Everything has changed in Iran," Ardakani told AFP.

"We've gone from an absolutely patriarchal culture, where there was no question of women being able to reveal themselves in the street, to massive support for these women," the lawyer and activist added.

The march in solidarity with the "Women, Life, Freedom" movement was attended by Benjamin Briere and Louis Arnaud, two Frenchmen who were arrested and arbitrarily detained in Iran.

Iran is accused of arresting Westerners without cause and using them as bargaining chips in state-to-state negotiations, with French diplomats describing these prisoners as "state hostages".

Briere was eventually released in May 2023, while Arnaud was let go the month after.

"Yes, I was in prison, but it is an immense honor to have been able to live among you, freedom fighters, who shared my suffering," Arnaud told the crowd, in his first public address since his release.

Three other French nationals are still being held in Iran.

After Amini died in custody on September 16, 2022, the women-led protests which erupted rattled Iran's leadership that autumn and winter.

But the demonstrations were then crushed by the authorities, with rights group Amnesty International saying security forces used assault rifles and shotguns in the crackdown.

Human rights groups say at least 551 people were killed. Thousands more were arrested, according to the United Nations.