What it means
تبرئه (tabre’e) means acquittal or exoneration: the formal legal outcome in which a court finds a defendant not guilty. The word is Arabic in origin, from the root ب-ر-أ which carries the core sense of being free from blame or innocent. The masdar (verbal noun) form تبرئه means the act of declaring someone innocent. Its opposite is محکومیت (mahkumiyyat), meaning conviction. In formal Persian you will hear it in court reporting and legal documents; in everyday speech Iranians may also say تبرئه شد (tabre’e shod) to mean “he was cleared.”
How to use it
- دادگاه متهم را تبرئه کرد. (dâdgâh mottaham râ tabre’e kard.) “The court acquitted the defendant.”
- بعد از سالها حبس، او تبرئه شد. (ba’d az sâlhâ habs, u tabre’e shod.) “After years in prison, he was exonerated.”
- وکیل دفاعی برای تبرئه موکلش تلاش کرد. (vakil-e defâ’i barây-e tabre’e-ye movakkelash talâsh kard.) “The defense lawyer worked for his client’s acquittal.”
- حکم تبرئه توسط دادگاه تجدیدنظر تایید شد. (hokm-e tabre’e tavasot-e dâdgâh-e tajdid-nazar tâyid shod.) “The acquittal verdict was confirmed by the appeals court.”
Cultural note
In the Iranian judicial system, acquittals do exist but are relatively uncommon in high-profile cases, particularly those involving political or security charges. The word تبرئه carries significant weight in public discourse: when a prominent figure is acquitted, it is widely reported using this term. Exoneration after wrongful imprisonment has also become a recognized issue in Iranian civil society debates, and human rights lawyers frequently use تبرئه when seeking to reopen cases.