Judiciary summons 100 Iranians accused of promoting election boycott

Iran's judiciary has summoned 100 people, with cases against two Telegram channels and 500 Instagram accounts, for promoting a boycott of Iran's presidential polls.

On Tuesday, the spokesman of the judiciary, Asghar Jahangir, said those facing legal action "tried to discourage people from participating in the elections."

Ahead of the recent presidential election, the Press Supervisory Board had warned that "publishing and promoting election boycott symbols" constitutes criminal content and does not require a complainant.

It allowed the public prosecutor independently, or based on the Criminal Content Determination Task Force's findings, to file charges against individuals and media deemed "violators."

Jahangir added, "In total, 3,980 people who committed electoral violations were given legal guidance and warnings. One hundred individuals were summoned and given necessary warnings to prevent continued illegal behavior."

He also reported the arrest of 113 individuals, whom he termed "criminals," in the runoff race of the presidential election, but mentioned that "most of them were released on the same day after giving commitments, providing bail, and appropriate guarantees."

Following the sudden death of former Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and his entourage in a helicopter crash in May, a snap election was called. After his death, the judiciary also arrested or summoned several citizens for their celebratory reactions to the incident.

During the election campaign, the judiciary filed charges against two media outlets, Hashiyeh News and Bamdad-e-No, for their election coverage and what it called "spreading false news about the elections."

Official figures from the elections showed a turnout of 49.8 percent of eligible voters cast their ballots.