(Paris) Demonstrations took place on Saturday in several universities in Iran to denounce the deadly repression of the protest movement sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini arrested by the morality police 16 days ago.
Updated yesterday at 9:48 p.m.
Rallies have also been held around the world in solidarity with the movement, whose repression has killed at least 83 people since the death of the Iranian Kurd on September 16, three days after her arrest for violating the strict dress code of the Islamic Republic which in particular obliges women to wear the veil.
The power, which denies any involvement of the police in the death of the 22-year-old young woman, arrested hundreds of demonstrators, described as “rioters”.
PHOTO RINGO CHIU, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Protesters held a candlelight vigil in Los Angeles on Friday in honor of Mahsa Amini.
“Students demonstrated on Saturday in universities to denounce the actions of the police against the protesters,” said the Iranian news agency Fars, without specifying where these demonstrations took place or their extent.
The agency however indicated that rallies “were also organized on Enghelab Square (“Revolution” in Persian, editor’s note) near the University of Tehran, in the center of the capital, where clashes broke out between the police and the demonstrators, some of whom have been arrested”.
Witnesses said many riot police had earlier taken up positions at various junctions in Tehran.
“Drowned in Blood”
PHOTO ALESSANDRA TARANTINO, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Protesters holding a headband that reads “Women, Life, Freedom” gathered in Rome, Italy on Saturday.
On social networks, several videos verified by AFP circulated on Saturday showing rallies in universities, in particular in Tehran and in the holy city of Mashhad (north-east), the second largest city in the country.
In these images, we can see dozens of demonstrators singing and chanting slogans in favor of the protest movement.
“The city is drowned in blood, but our teachers keep silent! chanted protesters outside Karaj University, west of Tehran, according to a video released by the Oslo-based NGO Iran Human Rights (IHR).
On Friday evening, Iranians demonstrated in Saqez, a town in Kurdistan where Mahsa Amini was from, according to an IHR video.
“Women, life, freedom”, launched men and women in the middle of the street, taking up a flagship slogan of the protest movement, the largest since the demonstrations of November 2019, caused by the rise in gasoline prices and which were severely suppressed.
According to the Fars news agency, around 60 people have been killed since September 16, while IHR has reported at least 83 dead.
More than 1,200 demonstrators were arrested, according to an official report. Activists, lawyers and journalists were also arrested, according to NGOs.
Solidarity demonstrations
Abroad, solidarity rallies, attended by the Iranian diaspora, were held Saturday in more than 150 cities, organizers said.
Tens of thousands of people demonstrated on Saturday in Montreal and several other Canadian cities, including Vancouver, Toronto and Ottawa.
In Montreal, several women cut their hair as a crowd of more than 10,000 held up signs reading “Justice” and “No to the Islamic Republic.”
In Berlin, more than 1,000 demonstrators held up placards denouncing the Iranian regime, while in Brussels more than 2,000 people gathered and two Iranian women living in Belgium shaved their heads in protest.
PHOTO FRANK RUMPENHORST, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Protesters raise their fists in tribute to Mahsa Amini in Frankfurt, Germany.
Other demonstrations took place in Rome, Madrid, Athens, Bucharest, London, Lisbon, Warsaw and Tokyo, demanding “justice” for Mahsa Amini and denouncing the “dictatorship” in Iran.
But in Beirut, the leader of the Shiite armed movement Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, a close ally of Iran, called the death of Mahsa Amini a “vague incident” and blasted “incitement” against the regime.
For its part, Amnesty International denounced a “ruthless” repression against the protest movement, noting the use of live ammunition and lead pellets, beatings and sexual violence against women by the forces of the army. ‘order.
In Tehran, former Iranian Prime Minister Mir Hossein Mousavi, now in opposition, urged them to stop the violence, in a message posted on the Instagram account of the Kaleme site which is close to him.
“I would like to remind all law enforcement of their oath to protect our land, Iran, and the lives, property, and rights of the people,” said the former official, who has been under house arrest since. 2011. “The blood of the oppressed is stronger than the violence of tyrants. »
The Iranian authorities accuse the demonstrators of sowing “chaos” and forces abroad, including the United States, their sworn enemy, of being behind the rallies.
They announced Friday the arrest of “nine nationals of Germany, Poland, Italy, France, the Netherlands, Sweden, etc”. According to Tehran, they were arrested “at the scene of the riots or were involved in them”.
On Saturday, in a separate filing, the UN announced that an 85-year-old American-Iranian, Baquer Namazi, stranded in Iran after being detained there, had been allowed to leave the country for medical reasons, while his son Siamak was released after seven years in detention.