Judiciary Announces New Prison Furlough Plan in Iran amid COVID-19 Outbreak
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iran’s Judiciary spokesperson unveiled instructions for granting more prisoners leave in the wake of a new wave of the coronavirus in the country.
Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, Gholam Hossein Esmaeili said courts and prisons across Iran have been given a new directive on permitting inmates to get furlough as part of precautionary measures to contain the second wave of the coronavirus.
He said the Judiciary has also commuted the sentences in many judicial cases and considered the maximum employment of other punishments in lieu of prison sentence.
Moreover, the Judiciary has enhanced the health and precautionary measures in penitentiaries and launched special plans for cooperation with the Health Ministry to monitor the health of prisoners, he added.
Some 2,600 inmates convicted of financial crimes have been released from prisons under the auspices of charity organizations, Esmaeili further noted.
Tens of thousands of prisoners across Iran have been granted leave after the outbreak of coronavirus pandemic in February.
Iran’s Health Ministry on Monday reported 203 new deaths from the novel coronavirus, one of the highest single-day toll since the viral disease broke out in February.
At least 222,000 patients have recovered from the coronavirus infection so far or have been discharged from hospitals across Iran