Tehran Prosecutor Says Participating In Demonstrations Is A Crime And Carries Heavy Penalties

Iran-HRM – The Tehran Prosecutor said that inviting and taking part in riots and sedition was a crime and that it carried heavy penalties.
Addressing a reporter’s question about the sentences passed for a number of students in regards to the January incidents (protests), Abbas Jafari Dolat Abadi said, “You asked a difficult question but I have to respond. Participating in riots is a crime and this is not related to a certain sector of the society.”
“Recently, some of these people’s supporters said that participating in demonstrations was not a crime. Who has said this? The law says that taking part in riots and inviting people to riot is a crime and carries a very heavy penalty. Therefore, those who claim that participating in demonstrations is not a crime have to correct their statement.”
“The incidents of January 2018 (nationwide protests) were not a demonstration but were rather riots and sedition. So one cannot come and say that I’m a student and I will take part in the demonstrations. A demonstration needs a permit. They did not have permits, rather they came to the streets and made fires and chanted slogans against the system and the police arrested them,” the Tehran Prosecutor added. (Kayhan state-run Website – June 30, 2018)
Note: Protesters made small scale contained fire on the streets during the peaceful demonstrations of January 2018 to counter tear gas.