Street Demonstration or Legal Right to Protest

Street Demonstration or Legal Right to Protest

Street Demonstration or Legal Right to Protest Fatemeh Mohajerani, the government spokesperson, recently responded to the question of whether, if supporters of filtering can hold gatherings, the Ministry of Interior would allow opponents of filtering to hold demonstrations. She stated that the government is pursuing the issue as much as all those who want to march for the lifting of the filter, and there is no need for demonstrations or what she called street army mobilizations, and we are pursuing the demands of the people.

These statements shifted the topic beyond filtering and raised the question of how officials view the holding of demonstrations. Looking back over the past few decades, it can be seen that all governments, regardless of their political affiliation, have not been very inclined to allow the holding of legal demonstrations.

Perhaps the root of this approach to the issue of demonstrations lies in the security perspective of the officials, who believe that demonstrations can lead to security issues. In contrast to this view, we are faced with two legal and sociological issues.

The legal aspect of the issue refers back to Article 27 of the Constitution, which stipulates that the formation of gatherings and marches without carrying weapons, provided they are not against the principles of Islam, is free. This principle did not exist in the Constitutional Monarchy’s constitution as a right to march, and with the establishment of the Islamic Republic system, this principle was included in the constitution. According to Article 21 of the Constitutional Monarchy’s supplement, only the right to form associations and gatherings without carrying weapons was considered unobjectionable.

It is noteworthy that at the end of this article of the Constitutional Monarchy, the holding of gatherings was subject to police regulations, meaning that the conditions for holding gatherings were determined by supplementary laws. However, in Article 27 of the current Constitution, the right to march is recognized without such a condition.

Based on this, some legal doctrines believe that holding a march without carrying weapons and without opposing the principles of Islam is possible without obtaining permission from the Ministry of Interior. Regardless of this opinion, the definite point is that holding a march is an undeniable right based on the Constitution for all people.

From a jurisprudential perspective, some jurists, including Seyyed Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi, believe that the principle of marching is accepted based on the principle of freedom in Islam.

Shahroudi states in the first volume of the Jurisprudential Culture that people have the right to hold gatherings and meetings for consultation and exchange of views, and the Islamic government cannot prevent it unless it is harmful to the Islamic system and community.

With these descriptions, it is very strange that the government spokesperson, as someone who should express the official positions of the government, uses the term street army mobilization for this important public right without considering the legal basis for holding demonstrations.

From the social aspect of the issue, it is worth mentioning that, according to some sociologists, public marches on various topics can have two important benefits: first, public demands are directly conveyed to the officials, and secondly, protests are expressed at different times to prevent the accumulation of societal anger.

Accumulated social anger leads to social rebellion, which in turn can cause security crises. Therefore, not allowing protests with the mindset that they will create security issues actually becomes counterproductive. One of the reasons for the occasional observation of sometimes violent protests might be the lack of opportunity for legal marches on specific topics.

On the other hand, a specific mechanism from the Ministry of Interior also prevents the creation of security crises in marches. If the organizer of the march is known and the specific topic of the march has been announced beforehand, the organizers become committed to following the regulations, and the Ministry of Interior, along with law enforcement, ensures the security of the march.

Another point is that although the Ministry of Interior does not allow any group to hold a march, in practice, a kind of discrimination is observed in this matter. Typically, specific political forces with a radical and ideological view of politics and society can organize marches on various occasions, while segments of the social body are deprived of this right, and if they happen to hold a march, they may face restrictions.

Specifically, on the issue of internet filtering, where there are two different perspectives, both groups could be allowed to hold marches so that everyone can express their opinions in a fair environment.