“Mahsa Amini must be alive.” Blinken stands up for women’s rights in Iran after detainee’s death

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken https://twitter.com/SecBlinken/status/1572022270314553344?t=b89K2Ks8t5aVq2LTHBM30A&s=19 death of Mahsi Amini detained in Iran. He stated that the authorities of the country are obliged to stop the persecution of women and allow peaceful protests.

“Mahsa Amini should be alive now. Instead, the US and the Iranian people mourn her. We call on the Iranian government to stop the systematic persecution of women and allow peaceful protests“- wrote Anthony Blinken on your twitter page.

Wrong hijab

The police arrested the 22-year-old Mahsu Amini from Kurdistan on 13 September. This happened when she, along with her brother, was leaving the meters in Tehran. The security forces approached the young people and said that the girl was wearing a hijab incorrectly (all women in Iran are required to wear a hijab – Ed.). This became the basis for her arrest.

The police said that they would take the girl to the station to conduct a “re-education” session with her. After that, they promised to let her go, writes IranWire.

However, according to Brother Mashi Amini, at least 70 people who later came to the site to hand over things to other women heard screams. They tried to find out from the police what was going on inside. But the security forces did not begin to explain themselves, but dispersed the people by using tear gas.

The brain stopped functioning

Then an ambulance left the station, who was taken away by the doctors at that time was not known. The women released by the police told Amini’s brother that the security forces had killed someone. One of them specified that Amini allegedly lost consciousness while in the cell.

Doctors later told the family that the girl had suffered a heart attack and stroke, and her brain had stopped functioning. She spent three days in a coma, after which she died without regaining consciousness. Doctors have not yet commented on the possibility of violent death.

“Pure lies”

The police, in turn, insist that Amini’s death is an accident, and considers any accusations against her a provocation. “Cowardly accusations were made against the police. We will wait for the Day of Judgment, but we cannot stop working on security”, — declared Greater Tehran Police Chief Sardar Hussein Rahimi.

According to him, the police did not make a single mistake in detaining and keeping the girl. “Information published on the Internet about the cause of Amini’s death is a pure lie.“, – he said.

Rahimi also said that he could not comment on the real causes of the girl’s death, since “medicine is not his specialty.” He urged citizens to “ignore rumors” and wait for official information.

Protest actions

Relatives and friends of Amini claim that the police killed the girl. According to them, she did not have any health problems, that is, information about a heart attack is not true.

Al Jazeera TV channel informedthat after the tragedy in his hometown of Sekkez and other cities in western Iran, mass protests began. Amini’s relatives told reporters that they would seek a fair investigation. “She was taken to the hospital, where she was in a coma for several days. She was then taken off life support and declared dead. The whole country demands an investigation into what really happened, ”they emphasized.

Rights in Iran

According to report UN on human rights in Iran, the situation in this area in the country is rapidly deteriorating. Peaceful meetings and protests are considered a crime in the country, their participants are arrested and sentenced to various penalties up to the death penalty.

“Juvenile delinquents are also subject to executions. Girls are given in marriage at the age of 13, and women for appearing without a hijab, not only on the street, but also on social networks, are punished with imprisonment,” the UN said.

At least 267 people were executed in Iran in 2020, including nine women, according to the organization. At least 25 convicts were deprived of their lives on drug-related charges. “A large number of Iranians have died as a result of the excessive use of force by security, border guard and law enforcement officials. The situation is aggravated by the fact that the employees of many organizations, such as the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Basij militia operating under it, are allowed to carry weapons.“, the report says.

Elena Petrova