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Protests continue in Iran after the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, a young woman who had been detained by the Moral Police for “wearing inappropriate clothing”. On Monday, police denied any responsibility for the death, while France called for a “transparent investigation”.
New demonstrations have taken place in Iran, especially in Tehran and Mashhad, against the death of a young woman detained by the Moral Police. The institution again denied this Monday, September 19, any responsibility for her death.
A demonstration took place on Sunday night in Sanandaj, the capital of the Kurdistan province in the northwest of the country, where the young woman is from, and other protests took place on Monday at several universities in the capital, according to local media. .
On Monday night, on Hejab Street in central Tehran, “several hundred people chanted slogans against the authorities, some of them took off their hijab,” the Fars agency reported. A short video released by the agency shows a crowd of several dozen people, including women who have removed their headscarves, chanting “death to the Islamic Republic.” “Police arrested several people and dispersed the crowd with batons and tear gas,” Fars reported.
A similar meeting took place in Mashhad, the country’s first holy city located in the northeast, the Tasnim agency reported.
Arrested for “wearing inappropriate clothing”
On September 13, Mahsa Amini was arrested in Tehran for “wearing inappropriate clothing” by the Moral Police, a unit tasked with enforcing the Islamic Republic of Iran’s strict dress code for women.
In Iran, it is mandatory to cover your hair in public. This police force also prohibits women from wearing short coats above the knee, tight pants and jeans with holes, as well as brightly colored outfits, among others.
The young woman fell into a coma after her arrest and died on September 16 in hospital, according to state television and her family. Activists called her death “suspicious”, but Tehran police said there was “no physical contact” between officers and the victim.
The death of the young woman unleashed a wave of anger in Iran. And Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has called for an investigation.
After an initial demonstration on Saturday in Saghez, Mahsa Amini’s hometown, a protest of about 500 people was held in Sanandaj, according to Fars.
“Protesters shouted hostile slogans at those responsible, smashed car windows and set fire to garbage cans,” the agency said. Police used “tear gas to disperse the crowd” and arrested “several people”. “Many protesters are convinced that Mahsa died under torture,” Fars wrote.
In the Iranian capital, students have launched protest movements at several universities, including Tehran and Shahid Beheshti, according to Tasnim. They demanded “clarification” from the authorities about the young woman’s death.
“A Regrettable Incident”
Tehran Police Chief General Hossein Rahimi again rejected the “unjust accusations against the Police”. “There has been no negligence on our part. We have conducted investigations … and all the evidence shows that there has been no negligence or inappropriate behavior on the part of the police officers,” he said. “This is a regrettable incident and we wish not to witness such incidents again,” he added.
General Rahimi again insisted that the young woman had violated the dress code and that the police had asked Mahsa’s relatives to bring her “decent clothes”.
On the day of her death, state television broadcast a short surveillance video showing a woman portrayed as Mahsa Amini collapsing at the police station after an argument with an officer. On Monday, Amjad Amini, the victim’s father, told Fars that “the video was cut” and claimed that his daughter “had been taken to hospital late.”
Iranian Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi said on Saturday that “Mahsa apparently had previous problems” and “had brain surgery when he was five years old.” Information denied by the father, who assured that her daughter was “in perfect health.” The young woman was arrested while she was in Tehran visiting her family.
France calls for a “transparent investigation”
In recent months, the Moral Police has been criticized for violent interventions. Numerous filmmakers, artists, figures from sports, politics and religion have expressed their anger on social networks after the death of the young woman.
Abroad, the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, condemned this Monday the “unacceptable” death of this young woman and asked the authorities to punish those responsible.
France, for its part, described the arrest and death in custody of this young Iranian as “deeply shocking” and called for a “transparent investigation to shed light on the circumstances of this tragedy,” according to the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
with AFP
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