At least 133 people have died in Iran as a result of the repression of the demonstrations that began after the death of young Mahsa Amini, according to the Human Rights of Iran, an NGO based in Norway, reported on Sunday (2).
“The international community has the right to investigate and prevent other crimes from being committed,” said Mahmud Amiry-Moghaddam, director of the institution.
Also on Sunday, Iranian lawmakers shouted “thank you, police” during a session of the organ, in a show of support for the regime.
On the 13th, Amini, who was from Iranian Kurdistan and was visiting Tehran, was taken to the police station by the moral police for allegedly not wearing the Islamic veil as dictated by the country’s strict dress code.
The young woman left there unconscious and died three days later. The family says she was beaten and slipped into a coma. Activists have claimed that the police approach in cases of this type has been violent, often with the use of violence against women.
Tehran denies the allegations and alleges that the young woman suffered cardiac arrest.
A wave of protests has been unleashed since the funeral, with demonstrations spreading across the country’s 31 provinces. These are the biggest protests since the protests against a gasoline price hike in 2019.
Some Iranian football players, considered national idols, have declared their support for the cause. Retired athlete Ali Karimi even said on social media that not even holy water could “cleanse this disgrace”. The Iranian news agency Fars called for his arrest in a text.
In Iran, after the 1979 Revolution, which made room for a theocratic regime, the law began to state that women are obliged to cover their hair with a veil and wear baggy clothes to cover the shape of their bodies. Those who break the rule face public reprimands, fines and even imprisonment.
Over the past few months, human rights activists have been urging women to publicly remove their veils in protest of the dress code.
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