Amini’s funeral turns into a protest in Iran’s Saqez
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – On Saturday, the funeral procession of Mahsa Amini taking place in the Aychi cemetery in Saqez of Kurdistan turned into a protest by mourners who chanted anti-government slogans.
Mahsa Amini, the 22-year-old Kurdish girl, died in hospital on September 16 three days after she was arrested and reportedly beaten by police in Tehran.
On September 13, Amini, visiting Tehran with her family, was taken from the train station and was detained for “inappropriate hijab,” the police said without more elaborating, according to the Centre for Human Rights in Iran.
The headscarf and other conservative dress, known as hijab, have been compulsory for women since Iran’s 1979 revolution. Iranian President, Ebrahim Raisi, has called for strict enforcement of the dress codes.
At the cemetery, women attending the burial rituals removed their hijabs in an act of defiance to the authorities watching nearby.
Police fired tears gas dispersing the protesters. A picture of Amini’s headstone was published on social media. It reads: “You didn’t die. Your name will be a symbol.”
The family was told that Mahsa was being taken for “re-education and would be released later that night,” the organisation said.
According to eyewitnesses, she was beaten while inside a police van and slipped into a coma later.
Iranian police denied the allegations, saying she had “suffered a sudden heart failure”.
Cases of deaths in police custody for inappropriate dress are not common in Iran. In 2007 a women ‘died’ after been arrested by the “Morality Police”, in the western Kurdish city of Hamadan. While authorities said she committed suicide, her family ‘believed’ she was killed.
In 2017 a feminist movement called ‘Girls of Revolution Street’ publicly took off their headscarves on the street. Eventually a number of them were arrested and served jail terms.
Former Iranian pro-reform president Mohammad Khatami said the conduct of the morality police was a “disaster.” Following the death, the Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi called for an investigation to the death of Amini.
Robert Malley, the US Special Envoy for Iran, said those responsible for Amini’s death “must be held accountable.”
“Mahsa Amini’s death after injuries sustained in custody for an ’improper’ hijab is appalling. Iran must end its violence against women for exercising their fundamental rights,” he wrote on tweeter.
However, up to date, Amini death remains a mystery and a debatable one. While her family claims she was beaten to death, Iran’s state-run media alleged Mahsa was taken to the hospital following a cardiac arrest.
A police officer was quoted as saying, “She had been operated on for a brain tumor at the age of 5 and was suffering from epilepsy and diabetes,” Fars Agency noted.
The Kasra Hospital in Tehran, where Amini was taken, said Mahsa was admitted without ‘vital signs.’
Family members of Mahsa said she had no history of heart attacks, however.
The Amini’s death has brought the country under scrutiny again by the international community and human rights activists and organizations.
This happens as talks between Iran and the United States and other major powers reached a deadlock on the Iran nuclear deal.
Some believe the death of Amini could mark a turning point in the country.
Until the ‘urgent’ investigation asked by the Iranian president into the death of Amini is completed and results are revealed to the public, voices are rising in and outside Iran that much reforms are needed in the country.