The family of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian who died after being taken into custody for an improper headscarf, has filed a lawsuit. The protests that rocked Iran largely centered around her death.
Amini, a young Kurdish woman, was arrested for wearing the traditional outfit of the Yazidi tribe from which she comes. Amini’s parents condemned the officers who arrested her and the uniformed men who interrogated her after the arrest. Saleh Nikbakht, one of Amini’s attorneys, revealed this information to Iran’s ISNA news agency. Amini’s family has asked the judicial authorities to conduct a “deep” investigation into what happened during her arrest to her transfer to Tehran’s Qasra hospital where she died.
On Tuesday the 13th, Amini was arrested by the so-called morality police for wearing her hijab incorrectly and taken to the police station for a “visit” with re-education officials. She died on Friday, dying at the hospital while admitted in a coma due to a heart attack. Authorities are denying any responsibility or interest in what happened and she’s being called an unwilling participant in her own death.
The death toll during Iran’s protests has risen to 76 according to the Human Rights Centre in Iran.
After Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi promised to conduct an “urgent and accurate” investigation, the Iranian parliament announced its own investigation two days later. Despite these promises, however, thousands of people took to the streets.
In recent days, the protests have been losing momentum with dozens of arrests and the reported imprisonment of several activists. More than a thousand people have been arrested in the last month alone according to Iranian state television.
Police have cracked down on protests in Iran with batons, tear gas, water cannons, and live ammunition. Activist Faezeh Hashemi Rafsanjani was arrested as part of the crackdown because she even “kindled” a few mobilizations. Hashemi is the daughter of former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who was a key figure in the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
