Iran's supreme leader pledges to pardon thousands of jailed protesters

Iran's supreme¹ leader pledges to pardon thousands of jailed protesters

Transcript²

NPR's Leila Fadel Fadel talks to human rights lawyer Gissou Nia of the Atlantic Council, about how many protesters could be released when Iran pardons thousands of demonstrators.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, says the country will pardon or commute³ the sentences of tens of thousands of prisoners ahead of Saturday's anniversary of the 1979 revolution. That might sound like good news for the about 20,000 people that activists⁴ say have been jailed since protests broke out in September over the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody⁵. She was also known by her Kurdish name, Jina.

But the amnesty comes with conditions. It doesn't cover charges related to espionage⁶, links to foreign intelligence services or attacks on government or public sites - in other words, charges that many Iranian protesters face. So is this a genuine promise to release thousands of Iranians detained for dissent⁷? Or is it about controlling the narrative⁸ after months of protest? We reached out to Gissou Nia, a human rights attorney who directs the Strategic Litigation Project at the Atlantic Council, to put these pardons in context for us.

GISSOU NIA: These pardons happen periodically. It is usually in conjunction with some sort of Shia holiday or another day of recognition. So this one was an announcement ahead of the 44th anniversary of the revolution of '79. It definitely, I think, helps with the Islamic Republic's narrative that nothing is going on and that they're going to be lenient⁹ with prisoners. But the reality is that almost 20,000 people have been arrested in connection to these protests. Everyone who is facing capital punishment, which is about 100, are still in prison. Seven hundred other people have been sentenced to draconian¹⁰ long sentences. And the majority of the folks who were given amnesty here are not the people that were participating in those protests.

FADEL: And this also came with conditions, right? Not any antigovernment protester is going to be released under this amnesty.

NIA: Yeah. So a lot of times, even if somebody who is a prisoner of conscience or a political prisoner is released, there are certain conditions - they're maybe put under house arrest. They're (non-English language spoken), which means they're not allowed to leave the country. In this case, it seems that a lot of people had to sign, quote-unquote, "regret letters" asking for forgiveness. So, yeah, this is not a sort of unconditional¹¹ release.

FADEL: So then, ultimately, how many of the thousands that were announced would actually walk out of jail?

NIA: You know, in the Islamic Republic, you can imprison¹² debtors¹³, and they'll release people who owe debts, who are sick, who are older. So although it's been reported at a time after this, you know, massive state crackdown on peaceful protests and all these people in jail, it's not actually that significant in terms of what it means for releasing protesters.

FADEL: Now, the speaker of the Parliament called this a, quote, "fatherly gesture." Who is this gesture for?

NIA: One is a global audience. There has been a U.N. fact-finding mission set up to investigate the situation in Iran since mid-September. And I think this is a bit of a play to say that, you know, there's nothing going on here. We're releasing prisoners now. The other audience could be domestic. Despite the fact that many, many Iranians get their news from satellite television and looking to other sources, a lot are still tuned¹⁴ in to state TV. And so they are getting the message that Khamenei has taken mercy on a lot of these individuals but not getting the full facts of what is really happening.

FADEL: So what is happening on the ground? I mean, I know this was the main headline for weeks, these mass protests, the executions and the crying mother outside when she heard of her son's death.

NIA: So the country obviously had been experiencing protests since December 2017. But this was the most sustained period of protests with people coming to the streets. I think one challenging coverage¹⁵ is that when international correspondents are allowed in, they're not allowed to visit the prisons to see what's happening there. And we very much rely on citizen journalists to get the news out. And when the internet is disrupted and when there are issues in getting that news out, unfortunately, we don't get the full picture. But when it's freezing cold and when you risk being put to death, obviously, you know, the protests will take different forms then. So their narrative is not correct.

FADEL: Gissou Nia of the Atlantic Council.

Thank you so much for joining us.

NIA: Thank you for having me on.

1 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 commute   

vi.乘车上下班；vt.减(刑)；折合；n.上下班交通

参考例句：

• I spend much less time on my commute to work now.我现在工作的往返时间要节省好多。
• Most office workers commute from the suburbs.很多公司的职员都是从郊外来上班的。

4 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 custody   

n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留

参考例句：

• He spent a week in custody on remand awaiting sentence.等候判决期间他被还押候审一个星期。
• He was taken into custody immediately after the robbery.抢劫案发生后，他立即被押了起来。

6 espionage   

n.间谍行为，谍报活动

参考例句：

• The authorities have arrested several people suspected of espionage.官方已经逮捕了几个涉嫌从事间谍活动的人。
• Neither was there any hint of espionage in Hanley's early life.汉利的早期生活也毫无进行间谍活动的迹象。

7 dissent   

n./v.不同意，持异议

参考例句：

• It is too late now to make any dissent.现在提出异议太晚了。
• He felt her shoulders gave a wriggle of dissent.他感到她的肩膀因为不同意而动了一下。

8 narrative   

n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的

参考例句：

• He was a writer of great narrative power.他是一位颇有记述能力的作家。
• Neither author was very strong on narrative.两个作者都不是很善于讲故事。

9 lenient   

adj.宽大的，仁慈的

参考例句：

• The judge was lenient with him.法官对他很宽大。
• It's a question of finding the means between too lenient treatment and too severe punishment.问题是要找出处理过宽和处罚过严的折中办法。

10 draconian   

adj.严苛的；苛刻的；严酷的；龙一样的

参考例句：

• You can't expect the people to obey such draconian regulations.你不能指望人民服从如此严苛的规定。
• The city needs a draconian way of dealing with robbers.这个城市需要一个严苛的办法来对付强盗。

11 unconditional   

adj.无条件的，无限制的，绝对的

参考例句：

• The victorious army demanded unconditional surrender.胜方要求敌人无条件投降。
• My love for all my children is unconditional.我对自己所有孩子的爱都是无条件的。

12 imprison   

vt.监禁，关押，限制，束缚

参考例句：

• The effect of this one is going to imprison you for life.而这件事的影响力则会让你被终身监禁。
• Dutch colonial authorities imprisoned him for his part in the independence movement.荷兰殖民当局因他参加独立运动而把他关押了起来。

13 debtors   

n.债务人，借方( debtor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Creditors could obtain a writ for the arrest of their debtors. 债权人可以获得逮捕债务人的令状。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Never in a debtors' prison? 从没有因债务坐过牢么？ 来自英汉文学 - 双城记

14 tuned   

adj.调谐的，已调谐的v.调音( tune的过去式和过去分词 )；调整；（给收音机、电视等）调谐；使协调

参考例句：

• The resort is tuned in to the tastes of young and old alike. 这个度假胜地适合各种口味，老少皆宜。
• The instruments should be tuned up before each performance. 每次演出开始前都应将乐器调好音。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。