Thousands of demonstrators gathered in Place Norman-Bethune on Saturday evening in downtown Montreal to show their support for protests in Iran, where at least 35 people have been killed and hundreds more arrested since September 16.
Posted at 7:30 p.m.
The movement was sparked by the death of a young woman arrested by police for not respecting the dress code of the Islamic Republic.
Iranian authorities deny any involvement in the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini and have responded to protesters with a violent crackdown and severe restrictions on internet access.
On Saturday, the Borna News agency reported that at least 35 people have been killed in protests across Iran, but the toll is likely to be higher. The NGO Iran Human Rights (IHR), based in Oslo, reported Friday at least 50 deaths in the repression.
In Montreal, a large crowd responded to the call from the local Iranian Women’s Association to “support the uprising taking place in the name of women’s rights and human rights in Iran”. Thousands of people gathered at the corner of rue Guy and boulevard De Maisonneuve Ouest, chanting slogans such as “Woman! Life ! Freedom ! in French, English, and Arabic.
“I haven’t been able to talk to my parents for 48 hours,” worries Fateneh, a 26-year-old Canadian-Iranian met there. “They cut off the internet, they kill people in the street,” she denounces, fearing that the toll will continue to increase. She came with a friend who held up a sign that read: “my body, my voice” in English and “I left Iran, but Iran did not leave me”, in Arabic. in addition to the name of Mahsa Amini.
Shabnam came with her daughter and her mother-in-law, who speaks neither French nor English. “My mother-in-law she is a believer, she wears a hijab, but she also believes in freedom, that we have a choice […] that’s why she’s with me,” she explains. Her parents are still in Iran, where the whole family is protesting, she says. “I’m both proud, but I’m a little nervous because I know it’s dangerous there, it’s very dangerous. »
“It’s a dictatorial regime, they kill innocent people,” denounces Reza, who demonstrates “as a Canadian-Iranian to be the voice of the Iranian people”.
Amnesty International accuses the security forces of “deliberately firing […] live ammunition on demonstrators”, and calls for “urgent international action to end the repression”.
Amnesty is further concerned about the “deliberately imposed internet blackout” in Iran where connections are still very disrupted, with the blocking of WhatsApp and Instagram.
With Agence France-Presse