TEHRAN – A total of 3,606 prisoners of unintentional crimes with debts amounting to 20 trillion rials (nearly $62 million) were released in the first half of the current Iranian calendar year which started on March 21).

Freeing prisoners of involuntary crimes is done in three ways. The first way is granting prisoners leave and the second way is providing a number of them with loans to be paid inside the prison.

The third way of assistance is the release of unintentional convicts by paying their debt.

Of the total released prisoners, 183 were female convicts and the rest were male debtors who were incarcerated due to inability to pay financial debts or inability to pay dues (workshop accidents and traffic accidents), Ali Shams, the head of the Blood Money Organization, said.

The prisoners had a sum of 20 trillion rials (about $62 million) in debt, and 35 percent of this amount has been forgiven by the plaintiffs, he said.

Isfahan’s benefactors released the highest number of inmates amounting to 725 convicts, IRIB reported on Tuesday.

Since 1990, more than 151,000 unintentional crime doers who had debts have been freed.

14,600 inmates freed last year

Iranian benefactors helped release a total of 14,681 inmates of unintentional crimes across the country over the past Iranian calendar year (March 2020-March 2021), Hadi Sadeghi, an official with the Judiciary, has said.

Last year, a total of 35 trillion rials (nearly $130 million) was donated to pay the debt of the released prisoners.

As an annual tradition, benefactors come together in a ceremony to raise funds for releasing prisoners of unintentional crimes during the holy month of Ramadan (which started on April 13 this year), through which, Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Ali Khamenei donated 5 billion rials (about $18,000).

Last year, heads of the three branches of the government and the private sector donated 6.5 billion rials (nearly $24,000) to release prisoners who had committed involuntary crimes.

Former President Hassan Rouhani, former Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani, and former Judiciary Chief Ebrahim Raisi made a total of 3.9 billion rials (around $14,000) in contributions to free prisoners of unintentional crimes.

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