Iran has abolished the morality police, a force that especially detains women who do not wear the headscarf in accordance with the country’s codes, said the country’s attorney general, Mohamad Jafar Montazeri.
This police “has nothing to do with the judiciary,” Montazeri stressed when making the announcement on Saturday night, quoted by the Iranian news agency ISNA.
Analysts see the end of the morality police as a concession to the popular protest movement that the country has been experiencing for three months.
Montazeri explained that the judiciary will continue to monitor behavior at the community level, noting that women’s clothing remains very important, especially in the holy city of Qom, south of Tehran.
“The bad ‘hijab’ (Islamic veil) in the country, especially in the holy city of Qom, is one of the main concerns of the judiciary as well as our revolutionary society, but it should be noted that legal action is the last resort and cultural measures precede any other,” Montazeri explained in a speech at a meeting with clerics in Qom.
The city of Qom is the theological center of Iran, where the country’s main religious schools are located and where thousands of pilgrims and students from all over the world visit and study.
Iran has been experiencing widespread protests since September 16, after the death in police custody of 22-year-old Kurdish Mahsa Amini, who had been detained precisely by the morality police for allegedly wearing the Islamic headscarf inappropriately.
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The protests include the demand for the end of the Islamic Republic.
“This is not a protest, this is a revolution”, “we do not want the Islamic Republic”, “death to the dictator”, are some of the phrases that protesters shout in street or night demonstrations from the windows of their houses. and writing on the walls of the building since last September.
According to Iran’s Security Council, “more than 200 people” have been killed since the start of the protests, but foreign non-governmental organizations (NGOs), such as the Oslo-based Iran Human Rights (IHR), estimate the death toll. in 448 due to strong police repression.
In addition, at least 2,000 people were accused of various crimes for their participation in the demonstrations, six of whom were sentenced to death.
Source: Observadora
