“We brave the temperature, it’s the least we can do. The cold is the only risk we run, compared to what the Iranian people have been experiencing for months. »
In interview at Duty, the director general of Amnesty International Canada, France-Isabelle Langlois, makes it clear: it was not the polar cold of this February Saturday that was going to prevent the holding of a demonstration in support of the Iranian people. About 200 people showed up at the George-Étienne Cartier monument, at the foot of Mount Royal, to reiterate their support for the mobilizations against the regime that have been going on since last fall.
Those present at the demonstration, organized by the Iranian diaspora in Montreal with the support of Amnesty International, attended a few speeches on Park Avenue. The procession then marched to Place des Arts, where the event concluded.
Met on the spot, Lily becomes moved by evoking her native country. “The government kills people and we can demonstrate so that everyone knows that they are dictators”, she articulates. Eyelashes and eyebrows all white, frozen by the cold, she remains confident. “Hope will win, light will win. I am 1000% sure that the regime will be overthrown. »
She says she comes to demonstrate every week alongside dozens of other Quebecers of Iranian origin. “It’s my responsibility,” she says.
Pressures on the National Assembly
Despite the paralyzing cold, the demonstrators warmly applauded the solidarity deputy for Mercier, Ruba Ghazal, who came to deliver a short speech.
“People often wonder what Quebec can do about what is happening internationally,” she said in an interview. But we cannot be silent when we see a people suffering like that. Communities here are asking us to mobilize, they are our Quebec brothers and sisters, and we must respond to this call. »
Since January, elected officials have sponsored 11 Iranian political prisoners. Mrs. Ghazal wishes that all the deputies in the National Assembly take part in this movement. “When I speak with the other parties about the situation in Iran, I feel that there is listening,” she rejoices. Last December, the elected officials had also unanimously adopted a motion initiated by Ms. Ghazal and which aimed to condemn the repression of women in Iran.
“We have to continue to mobilize people all the time. […] I will continue to take action in the National Assembly, ”promises the MP.
The epidemiologist and ex-candidate for the New Democratic Party Nimâ Machouf demands new actions on the part of the Canadian government to fight against the regime. “We want Canada to ask its G7 partners to close Iranian embassies on their soil,” she explains. And above all, they must be asked to cut their economic ties with Iran. Canada currently no longer has diplomatic relations with this country.
Herself of Iranian origin and member of the collective Woman, Life, Freedom – Montreal, which militates in support of the Iranian people, she would also like that the members of the body of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution be added to the list of terrorist entities. “The government would then have a free hand to freeze their assets and deport them if they are already here. »
As a reminder, Iranian men and women have initiated a vast movement of popular revolt in reaction to the death of Mahsa Amini last September. The young woman had been beaten to death by members of the local vice police because she was not wearing her veil according to their standards. The regime violently repressed these protest movements, killing several hundred protesters.