A year ago, 22-year-old Zina Martha Amin died in police custody. His death sparked protests in 2022 and changed Iran.
Just a week before the first anniversary of his death, his family Jina Masa Amini On September 8th, he announced on Instagram that he would like to pay respects to the Iranian people at the young woman’s grave on September 16th.
Her relatives, like other grieving families, want to hold a traditional, religious funeral for their beloved daughter. The family had been under surveillance by security forces for a year.
But Martha Amini’s family is not the only one under surveillance by authorities; many cemeteries across the country are also being monitored to avoid crowds, as happened last year. This is because it could quickly lead to protests.
The largest protest movement in decades
Zina Martha Amini was detained during a trip to the capital in 2022. tehran was taken to the police station, presumably for not wearing the scarf properly.
In Iran, women are strictly required to wear headscarves in public. A few hours later, she died and was taken from police custody to a hospital. Three days later, on September 16, she was officially declared dead.
Massive protests began at Zina Mahsa Amini’s funeral in the Kurdish town of Saguz in western Iran, in her hometown, and quickly spread across the country.
The participants, mostly young women, removed their headscarves. Their motto: “Women, life, freedom.” The widespread rallies were the largest and longest-running protests since the establishment of the Islamic Republic in 1979, and the government responded with large-scale repression and violence.
Although exact numbers are difficult to know, independent human rights groups say Iranian security forces have killed at least 527 people, including 17 minors, in protests between September 16, 2022 and the end of January 2022. killed several protesters.
The veil as a symbol of systematic oppression
However, human rights activists believe these protests have permanently changed political and social relations in Iranian society.
One of the most important changes concerns the new emergence of women in public life.
Despite harsher punitive measures such as fines, many women refuse to wear the compulsory headscarf. They consider the scarf to be a symbol of systematic oppression and humiliation, making them unwilling to follow the rules associated with it.
the government is at war with its own people
“We are facing a progressive movement that will bear fruit in the long run,” says the internationally renowned Iranian sculptor. Barbado Golsiri currently living in Paris.
“The Women, Life, Freedom movement is sparking a cultural revolution from the bottom of society. “It’s questioning the values that autocrats have been trying to impose on society from above since the 1980s.” he told DW.
On August 22, Iran’s parliament passed a controversial law that provides for harsher punitive measures for violating Islamic dress codes. Among them are penalties of up to 15 years in prison for multiple violations.
Publishing photos of women without veils on the internet is also punishable.
They are also expected to be banned from leaving the country. Judicial authorities are threatening to close supermarkets, restaurants and museums that allow women without veils.
On the other hand, religious women would be better protected. If a veiled woman is insulted, the offender will be sentenced to six months in prison and 74 lashes.
Source: Biobiochile
