Dutch MEP Calls Iranian Leader’s Pardon For Protesters 'Hypocrisy'

A member of the European parliament and representative of the Dutch Labor Party has lashed out at Iranian Supreme Leader’s pardon for detained protesters saying he cannot fool the public.

Thijs Reuten said in a tweet Monday that “freedom should not depend on the whims of a dictator. This is hypocrisy and we will not be fooled.”

He further called on the dictatorial ruler of Iran to release all protesters and stop executions immediately.

Reuten also addressed the European Union, urging them to sanction Ali Khamenei and President Ebrahim Raisi and blacklist the Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist group.

He also demanded the EU to show support for Iran’s democratic opposition.

Ali Khamenei on Sunday agreed to pardon some prisoners and reduce sentences for those arrested during antigovernment protests in recent months.

The proposal was made by the country’s Judiciary to take what appears to be a political step to show clemency after hundreds were killed and around 19,000 arrested.

It is not clear how many or which prisoners will be pardoned and whose sentences will be reduced. While thousands of young and teenage protesters were arrested in street demonstrations, hundreds of political activists, journalists and writers or artists have also been detained.

Khamenei's move comes at the 44th anniversary of the Islamic Republic, as a move to rescue the image of the regime amid a grim economic crisis and mass public rejection of the political system he presides over.