The police would have nothing to do with the death of Mahsa Amini. It is in any case the version of Iranian power. Authorities said Friday, October 7, that the young woman’s death was not caused by “strokes” but by the sequelae of an illness. Arrested on September 13 by the morality police in Tehran for not respecting the strict dress code for women in Iran, this 22-year-old Iranian Kurd died three days later in hospital. Activists have blamed a head injury sustained during his detention. The Iranian authorities have denied any physical contact between the police and the young woman.
“Mahsa Amini’s death was not caused by blows to the head and vital organs” but is related to “surgery for a brain tumor at the age of 8”, says a report by the Iranian Forensic Organization. “Despite being transferred to hospital and the efforts of medical staff, she died on September 16 from multiple organ failure caused by cerebral hypoxia,” adds the report, relayed by state television. For his part, the father of the young woman, Amjad Amini, had assured that his daughter was “in perfect health”.
Thursday, October 6, Iranian justice also denied the murder of a 16-year-old girl, Sarina Ismaïlzadeh, by the security forces in the province of Alborz (north-west of the country), recounting that she had “suicide by jumping from a building”. On September 30, Amnesty International for its part affirmed that she was “died after being severely beaten in the head with a truncheon” a week before.
The death of Mahsa Amini sparked a protest movement in the country, with Iranian women in the front line, as well as solidarity rallies around the world. These demonstrations, the largest since those of 2019 against the rise in the price of gasoline, were strongly repressed.
At least 92 people have been killed since September 16, according to the Oslo-based NGO Iran Human Rights. An official report is about 60 dead, including 12 members of the security forces. Dhousands of people, including journalists, activists and artists, have been arrested since the beginning of the movement, sAccording to mostly Iranian NGOs.