Although the ruling establishment reacts less harshly against its dissidents, it has expanded the sphere of its confrontation with the people. I mean… - Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

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Although the ruling establishment reacts less harshly against its dissidents, it has expanded the sphere of its confrontation with the people. I mean, comparing with the past (during the Constitutional Monarchy), the situation with freedom is much worse today... [The Islamic Republic's] prisons are currently crowded with the critics of the heads of the three branches of power, the judiciary, the Majlis (parliament), and the executive administration... We were truly unaware of the unjustifiable actions by the judiciary at the time (of our eight years in power). We really did not know but later we were informed [of many facts]... As you are not aware of many facts for the moment, we were also unaware of many cases and kept in the dark at the time.