SHIRAZ Some 23 more people were detained in fresh arrests on Sunday in connection with recent protests in southern Lamerd in Fars Province, the head of the Justice Department in Fars Province said.

According to Mohammadreza Sadri-Nejad on Monday, those arrested have been held on charges of participation in destruction of public belongings as well as instigating unrest.

The provincial Justice Department started on Sunday the court examination of the case, he said, adding more arrests were still in the making.

Protests broke out last month after provincial officials gave the green light for the relocation of a local refinery from Lamerd to neighboring Mohr city.

The protests were followed by arson in which a mob set the headquarters of the Lamerd governor ablaze.

Mohr was the site of a violent unrest in December over plans to reclassify the region for administrative purposes which entails annexing Mohr to Lamerd.

According to provincial officials in the Justice Department, some 35 people charged with provoking the unrest were arrested in the course of the last week on the orders of the local judicial authority.

(IRNA)