The head of the Iranian judiciary promised, Sunday January 25, trials “as soon as possible” against demonstrators arrested during the protest movement that shook the Islamic Republic. “The people rightly demand that the accused and the main instigators of the riots and terrorist and violent acts be judged as quickly as possible”declared Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, quoted by the Mizan agency, the organ of the judiciary.
Promising “the greatest rigor” in the surveys, he also estimated that “justice involves judging and punishing without any leniency criminals who have taken up arms and killed people, or committed arson, destruction and massacres”.
According to human rights organizations, several thousand or even tens of thousands of people were arrested during this power protest movement, which recorded thousands of deaths in early January.
Overwhelming testimonies on repression
During the demonstrations, state television broadcast several videos showing the head of the judiciary himself questioning arrested demonstrators, causing human rights defenders to fear “forced confession”. NGOs based abroad have denounced a bloody repression, while struggling to draw up a reliable assessment, because of the general Internet shutdown, still underway in the country.
Several testimonies described security forces firing live ammunition at demonstrators. The commander of a special police unit, Colonel Mehdi Sharif Kazemi, assured Sunday that“in truth the police did not use any firearms”.
“We used non-lethal means to guarantee the safety of the population and avoid any murder”he argued, according to the Mehr agency, which mentions “deterrents such as water cannons, paintball launchers and vehicles equipped with sound systems to manage crowds”.
https://www.lemonde.fr/international/article/2026/01/25/en-iran-le-pouvoir-judiciaire-promet-des-proces-rapides-et-des-punitions-sans-la-moindre-clemence-contre-les-manifestants-arretes_6664075_3210.html
