Prime Minister Justin Trudeau took to the streets to participate in one of many demonstrations of solidarity with the Iranian people that took place on Saturday at the call of the Association of Families of the Victims of Flight PS752.
Posted at 1:22 p.m.
Updated at 6:36 p.m.
While Trudeau has touted the government’s new sanctions against the Iranian regime, protesters have called for even tougher measures.
Rows of protesters took part in human chains organized in 10 Canadian cities, including Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto.
Organizers said the protests were a sign of solidarity with the people of Iran who are protesting against their country’s regime over the death of Mahsa Amini while in Iranian morality police custody in September for allegedly allegedly contravened the strict Islamic dress code for women.
In Ottawa, hundreds of protesters stamped their feet in unison chanting Amini’s name outside the National Gallery of Canada.
The Prime Minister, his wife Sophie Grégoire Trudeau and several elected Liberals were warmly applauded upon their arrival. Some demonstrators, however, chanted slogans urging Canada to act against the Iranian regime.
PHOTO JUSTIN TANG, THE CANADIAN PRESS
A protester waves her fist during a demonstration calling for the overthrow of the Iranian regime on the Alexandra Bridge between Ottawa and Gatineau on Saturday.
Trudeau said his government had imposed unprecedented sanctions against the regime. Several Iranian personalities cannot enter the country.
“We know that there are people in Canada who have benefited from this horrible and corrupt regime and who are hiding within this beautiful community,” said the Prime Minister. They take advantage of Canadian freedoms, Canadian opportunities. They use the wealth they have stolen to establish themselves in Canada. We won’t say more. »
The crowd reacted to this declaration with shouts of enthusiasm and chanting: “Expel them”.
Mr. Trudeau promised that the government will ensure that Canada never becomes a sanctuary for “the assassins, the murderers and those responsible for the oppression” of which the Iranians are victims.
PHOTO JUSTIN TANG, THE CANADIAN PRESS
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at the rally.
After his speech, he took the lead of the march that led the demonstrators to the Alexandra Bridge which connects Ottawa to Gatineau.
Protesters held each other shoulder to shoulder across the half-kilometre-long bridge. Everyone chanted, including Mr. Trudeau: “Justice in Iran” and “Stop the killings in Iran”.
The Canadian government has sanctioned the Iranian regime, namely 48 nationals and 16 entities “in connection with gross and systematic violations of human rights, serious and continuing harm to international peace and security, and continued activities of state-sponsored disinformation committed by Iran”. All members of the approximately 10,000 Revolutionary Guards can no longer enter Canada, either.
But for Amirali Alavi, one of the organizers of the demonstration in Toronto, these measures do not go far enough. He wants the expulsion of the Iranian ambassador.
“We are here to ask our government and Canada to get on the right side of history,” he said. We must stop negotiating with the regime in Iran while people are fighting in the streets. »
In Toronto, protesters lined stretches of Younge Street chanting “women, life, freedom” and “say her name: Mahsa Amini,” the woman who died after being detained by Iranian vice police in September , for allegedly violating the strict Islamic dress code for women. Motorists supported the demonstrators by honking their horns at various intersections.
Several protesters held up photos of loved ones who were among the 176 people killed on January 8, 2020 when Iran’s Revolutionary Guards shot down a Ukrainian airliner.
Arash Morattab, who lost his brother and sister-in-law in the air tragedy, said the families of the victims of Flight 752 share the cause of the protest movement that has plagued Iran for more than a month.
“We are all victims of a regime that started killing people as soon as it was installed and continues to do so,” she said. The regime killed our loved ones in January 2020. Today they are killing other people who are fighting for their rights. »
Sara Ahmadi, whose common-law husband was killed, says the fight for justice is particularly sensitive for all Iranian women who continue to be denied freedom. She herself says she had problems with the regime because she was not legally married to her spouse.
“Women have no rights in my country. It’s not just about the hijab, it’s about everything. »
Since the start of the protest movement that has swept through 125 Iranian cities, at least 270 people have been killed. Law enforcement made 14,000 arrests, according to the group Human Rights Activists.