As we begin to see images of the crowds turning out to pay their respects to President Ebrahim Raisi, it’s worth remembering that he was indeed loved by hardliners of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
However, he was equally hated by many Iranians for his role in the mass execution of political prisoners in the 1980s, and his more than four-decade involvement in the security and judicial systems which suppress opponents of the Islamic regime.
In the 1980s, Raisi was appointed to be a member of a committee that dealt with political prisoners.
More than 5,000 political prisoners were executed by this committee. Relatives of those executed long held onto hope that Raisi would one day face justice.
Now this will never be possible.
His supporters would point to Iranian state media’s depiction of Raisi as the president of the unprivileged and poor.
Under his leadership, there was some reform in processing a backlog of court cases, and relatives of some officials were arrested for corruption and bribery.
Despite this, the economic situation in Iran worsened and hardliners imposed harsher restrictions on freedom of speech, as well as a stricter dress code on women.
- You can read the whole story here.
