Iranian judicial authorities have indicted protesters who had been arrested in recent weeks during anti-government demonstrations that rights groups say resulted in several deaths.

The chief justice of Kurdistan province Tuesday indicted 110 people.

The move came one day after Hossein Fazli Harikandi, the chief justice of Alborz province, issued indictments for 201 protesters.

In Qazvin province, the prosecutor said 55 protesters were being indicted.

Ali Salehi, the public prosecutor of Tehran, issued indictments for 315 people on charges of gathering and colluding with the intention of acting against the security of the country, propaganda against the system and disturbance of public order.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has called some of the arrested protesters agents of the enemy and said that in their cases, judicial and security officials must do their duty.

An Iranian judiciary spokesman said charges have also been filed by the criminal prosecutor’s office in connection with a recent fire that left eight people dead at Tehran’s Evin prison.

Massoud Satayshi said 25 suspects allegedly involved in incitement and deliberate destruction have been charged.

Social media users had reported seeing flames and hearing the sound of gunshots and explosions from the prison. Iranian officials have given differing accounts of events, including saying the unrest was caused by “enemy agents” and some inmates who tried to escape. They also blamed inmates whom they say set a sewing workshop on fire.

Rights groups have accused the Iranian government of seeking to carry out a crackdown inside the prison under the guise of battling the fire and preventing escapes.

Nationwide protests and strikes, now in their fifth week, started after the death in police custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini who had been detained for an alleged dress code violation. Protesters in cities across the country have opposed the mandatory wearing of hijabs by women and called for changes to Iran’s political system. (VOA)

•PHOTO FILE- A police motorcycle burns during a protest over the death of Mahsa Amini, in Tehran, Sept. 19, 2022. (AP Photo/Middle East Images, File)

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