Human rights activists say dozens of people were detained as Iran marked the one-year anniversary Saturday of the death in police custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini.
Hengaw Organization for Human Rights has confirmed the identities of at least 13 of those detained across various provinces. Those detained included Nima Safar, a poet, and writer, along with Mani Safar and Majid Kalateh, who were apprehended in Gorgan, according to the group.
Meanwhile, Rahim Jahanbakhsh, the police commander of West Azerbaijan, announced the detention of 137 individuals on charges of “disturbing public order.”
Mahsa Amini, an Iranian Kurd, had been detained by the morality police for allegedly wearing her headscarf too loosely. Iran saw months of anti-government protests after her death in police custody on September 16, 2022.
The anniversary of her death was marked Saturday by a strong military presence and a general strike by tradespeople and shopkeepers in Kurdish cities across numerous provinces of Iran — along with protest rallies in cities worldwide.
Amini’s father, Amjad Amini was detained for a short time Saturday before being released, according to the Kurdistan Human Rights Network. Iran’s official IRNA news agency denied he was arrested, though it would not confirm if he was briefly detained or warned.
Images circulating on social media Saturday showed Iranians in New Zealand participating in a protest gathering on the anniversary of Amini’s death. Iranians there carried placards in solidarity with the Iranian protest movement and raised their voices in chants advocating for democracy and freedom in Iran.
Iranians living in Australia organized a protest gathering in Melbourne’s central square and published images showing Kylie Moore-Gilbert, a former detainee in Iran, addressing the crowd.
