ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - At least ten were injured and dozens arrested in Iran’s Kurdish city of Saqqez as Iranian security forces dispersed demonstrators protesting the controversial death of a Kurdish woman during detention in a prison of the Islamic Republic.
Scores of people stormed the streets of Saqqez on Saturday, a Kurdish majority city in Iran’s Kurdistan province.
The protestors chanted “death to the dictator” in Persian as scores of women took off their head scarves in defiance to the Islamic Republic following the death of the 22-year-old Mahsa (Zhina) Amini.
Amini was detained by Iran’s morality police while visiting the capital city of Tehran earlier this week. Hours later, she was taken to a hospital in Tehran where she died on Friday.
Tehran police confirmed her detention for “explanation and instruction” about the dress rules, reported AFP. "She suddenly suffered a heart problem while in the company of other guided people (and)... was immediately taken to the hospital with the cooperation of police and emergency services."
Iran has had a compulsory headscarf rule since the Islamic Revolution in 1979 where Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomenei and his followers brought down the last Shah of Iran and ended the Pahlavi dynasty.
The morality police in the country are in charge of enforcing the strict dress code, among other laws by the Islamic Republic.
Rights group on Saturday confirmed to Rudaw the injury of at least 10 people as security forces used live ammunition and teargas on demonstrators.
“Today, at least ten people have been wounded in the city of Saqqez alone by bullets from Iranian special forces,” Paris-based Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) founder Rebin Rahmani told Rudaw English. “Forces have been spread all over the city of Saqqez and other Kurdish cities such as Sanandaj.”
Iran’s morality police have been slammed in recent years over the ill-treatment of people, with videos on social media frequently posted of officers shoving women into police vehicles.
Robert Malley, the US special envoy for Iran, said Amini’s death “in custody for an ‘improper’ hijab is appalling” and called on those responsible for her death to be brought to justice.
Amnesty International called for an investigation into the death of Amini.
“The circumstances leading to the suspicious death in custody of 22-year-old young woman Mahsa Amini, which include allegations of torture and other ill-treatment in custody, must be criminally investigated,” it said.
“The so-called 'morality police' in Tehran arbitrarily arrested her 3 days before her death while enforcing the country’s abusive, degrading and discriminatory forced veiling laws. All agents and officials responsible must face justice,” it added.
