Iranian security forces reportedly fired into a crowd of mourners gathering at the grave of Mahsa Amini – 40 days after she died following her arrest.
The 22-year-old woman died on September 16 while in custody, three days after authorities took her in for allegedly not complying with the country’s strict rules on wearing hijabs.
Shouts of “woman, life, freedom” and “death to the dictator” were heard at the Aichi cemetery in Saqqez, where Ms Amini is buried. Many were seen heading to the governor’s office in the city centre, where Iranian media outlets said some were poised to attack an army base.
stunning video coming out of iran
— ian bremmer (@ianbremmer) October 26, 2022
in mahsa amini’s hometown of saqez, thousands ignore govt road closures to walk to her gravesite
40 days after her death in the custody of iran’s morality policepic.twitter.com/u6EvbGQtjw
“Security forces have shot teargas and opened fire on people in Zindan Square, Saqqez city,” Hengaw, a Norway-based group that monitors rights violations in Iran’s Kurdish regions, tweeted without specifying whether there were any dead or wounded.
Verified CCTV footage showed dozens of security officers rushing to the scene to confront protesters on Wednesday. Iran’s ISNA news agency said the internet had also been cut in Saqez for “security reasons”, and that nearly 10,000 people had gathered in the city.
It is the latest in a series of protests against the regime’s treatment of women, which has seen authorities heighten security and brutally crack down on gatherings. At least 141 people have died in demonstrations with thousands more injured.
Despite arrests and beatings, young women and school girls have continued to protest by removing and burning their headscarves, cutting their hair, and confronting security.
Mourners defied the state’s appeal to not gather in memory of Ms Amini at the 40 day mark - which is considered the end of the mourning period in Islamic culture.
But despite the presence of heavy security in the city of Saqqez, thousands of protestors were filmed chanting. Ali Daei, Iran’s greatest footballer and the second highest scorer of international goals in FIFA history, was said to have taken part - putting him once more at odds with his country’s government.
Untold numbers have been arrested, with estimates in the thousands.
Iranian judicial officials announced this week that they would put more than 600 people on trial for their role in the protests, including 315 in Tehran, 201 in the neighbouring Alborz province and 105 in the south-western province of Khuzestan.
Tehran prosecutor Ali Salehi told the state-run Irna news agency that four protesters have been charged with “war against God”, which is punishable by death in Iran.
