TEHRAN – Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has donated 5 billion rials (about $120,000 at the official rate of 42,000 rials) to help release inmates of unintentional crimes.

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), according to the Blood Money Organization report released on Saturday.

This year, however, due to the outbreak of the coronavirus, the ceremony will be held online or through TV shows.

According to the organization’s report, the Leader has donated more than 36 billion rials (about $864,000) over the past ten years, helping release over 1,000 prisoners of unintentional crimes in the country.

Last year (March 2020-March 2021), heads of the three branches of the government and the private sector donated 6.5 billion rials (nearly $150,000) to release prisoners who had committed involuntary crimes.

President Hassan Rouhani, former Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani, and Judiciary Chief Ayatollah Seyed Ebrahim Raeisi made a total of 3.9 billion rials (around $92,000) in contributions to free prisoners of unintentional crimes.

During the first nine months of last year, some 5,068 inmates of unintentional crimes were released from prison with the help of charities.

According to Asadollah Joolaei, head of Blood Money Organization, there are currently 12,874 inmates of unintentional crimes in the country’s prisons.

FB/MG