She walks barefoot on the asphalt, with her arms crossed over her bare stomach and her long brown hair falling down her back. The video of an Iranian student in her underwear in front of the prestigious Islamic Azad University in Tehran went around the world this weekend. Published on Saturday, November 2, by the Iranian student website Amir Kabir, later taken up by the human rights groups Hengaw and Amnesty Iran, these images once again highlight the tenacious repression of which Iranian women are victims.
According to several human rights activist sites, the 30-year-old girl took off her clothes. “as a sign of protest against the abusive application of the mandatory use of the veil” by the Basijis (volunteer Islamic militiamen and one of the gears of repression in Iran), reports Amnesty Iran, a branch of Amnesty International.
In the images captured by the residents of a neighboring building, the young woman walks slowly in front of the university square, to the indifference of many students, while the laughter of the video’s authors masks the noise of the street. She then walks away onto the road, before being arrested and thrown into a white car by individuals dressed in black.
Amnesty calls for an investigation to be opened
The Iranian Fars agency, which published a blurry photo of the student, claims that he was wearing “inappropriate” in progress. The media attached to the Iranian government specify that “untanned” after being warned by university security agents. Quoting “witnesses”Fars reports that the agents spoke “quietly” at the young woman, without showing aggression.
In Iran, the appearance “in public without the Muslim veil” is responsible for “prison sentence of ten days to two months”. Islamic law in Iran imposes a very strict dress code on women, who are required to wear headscarves and loose clothing that hides their shapes.
“Iranian authorities must immediately and unconditionally release” the young woman, Amnesty Iran urged, about “Allegations of beatings and sexual violence against him during his arrest must be the subject of an independent and impartial investigation.”adds the organization.
Protest movements in 2022
This event occurs more than two years after the revolt of Iranian women, following the death of Mahsa Amini, arrested by the moral police and died in police custody, on September 16, 2022. Mahsa Amini’s death had triggered a great protest movement. under the banner “Woman, life, freedom”with demonstrations in several cities in October and November before subsiding.
Several hundred people, including members of the security forces, were killed and thousands arrested. Seven men were executed for their participation in this movement.
Challenged by protesters, the moral police had largely disappeared from the streets. And more and more women went out bareheaded, especially in Tehran and big cities.
