Iran continues to commit ‘unspeakable cruelty’ one year on from Mahsa Amini’s death

Authorities have arrested tens of thousands of people protesting against the treatment of women and girls in Iran (Picture: EPA/Reuters/AP)

The Iranian government has committed acts of ‘unspeakable cruelty’ as Iranians mark the one-year anniversary of Mahsa Amini’s death.

Over the past 12 months, hundreds of protestors and bystanders have been unlawfully killed during ‘Woman, life, Freedom’ demonstrations.

Iran has only intensified their clampdown on dissent, which has lead to some of the worst political turmoil the country has seen since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

The protests were sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini who died whilst in the custody of Iran’s ‘morality police’ on September 16 last year.

The 22-year-old was visiting her brother in Tehran when she was stopped for wearing her hijab too loosely.

While Mahsa was originally meant to undergo a ‘briefing class’, she ended up at Kasra hospital where she died after three days in a coma.

Although authorities claim she died due to existing medical conditions, Mahsa’s family said she had been killed by blows to her head and limbs.

Since her death, authorities have arrested tens of thousands of people protesting against the treatment of women and girls in Iran, with hundreds of demonstrators killed during the brutal military crackdowns.

Mahsa Amini was stopped by Iran’s morality police for wearing her hijab ‘too loosely’ (Picture: IranWire via Reuters)

Mahsa’s death sparked a wave of protests (Picture: UGC/AFP via Getty Images)

Amnesty International said live ammunition has been fired to disperse and terrorise protestors, leading to the loss of limbs and blinding.

Seven men have also been sentenced to death in relation to the uprisings following ‘grossly unfair sham trials’.

Despite fear of repercussions from the regime abroad, a family member of a man executed after taking part in the demonstrations in the city of Isfahan spoke to Metro about the future of Iran.

Majid Kazemi was arrested in November 2022 alongside two other men and later charged with ‘moharebe’, a broad term that means waging a war on God.

Majid Kazemi (left) was arrested in November 2022 and hanged just weeks later (Picture: Mohammad Hashemi)

Mohammad Hashemi campaigned for his cousin’s release (Picture: Mohammad Hashemi)

After ‘grossly unfair’ trials fast-tracked behind closed doors by Iran’s Revolutionary Court system, he was hanged just weeks before his 31st birthday.

From his home in Sydney, Australia, his cousin Mohammad Hashemi campaigned for the release of Majid and had been working with politicians to put pressure on Iran.

In his heart, he believed justice would ultimately prevail in the hours before the execution.

From his home, Mohammad told Metro: ‘He was imprisoned and held in solitary for 40 days where members of the IRGC tortured him. They beat him using electric shockers.

‘They arrested his brother, my other cousin, to put pressure on Majid, threatening him that if he does not confess, they would execute him too.

‘His brother has a seven-year-old daughter. Majid wanted to save his family, so he agreed to make a false confession.’

Before his arrest, Majid had a business making copper kitchenware, employing some 15 people, and was engaged.

Protesters were shot at and killed (Picture: AP)

Mohammad described him as a ‘kind’ and ‘energetic’ person who always made people laugh.

In a message to the Iranian regime, Mohammad said: ‘Your days are counted. A day will come when justice will prevail. Their crimes to the Iranian people will be taken to a court.

‘They will be punished for everything they did. Know this, that day is also not far from now.

‘All the families of victims are uniting. If something like what happened to Majid happens to your loved one, you cannot just continue living a normal life.

‘We don’t want to see any more loss of life. There will be a turning point.’

Despite the ‘constant presence’ of police on the streets of Iran, people are still ‘pushing back’ against the regime.

Diana Nammi, executive director of IKWRO, told Metro.co.uk: ‘The situation is getting worse. The morality police have been brought back and hijab laws are tighter.

Mahsa’s death lead to protests around the world (Picture: Vuk Valcic/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock)

‘The government are getting ordinary people to police women by threatening to shut down their businesses if they serve anyone without a hijab.

‘But people are going to keep protesting, because they have nothing to lose. everything is so brutal.’

Diana Eltahawy, Amnesty International’s Middle East Deputy Director, said: ‘The Iranian authorities have spent a year inflicting unspeakable cruelty on people in Iran for courageously challenging decades of repression and inequality.

‘One year after Mahsa Amini’s death in custody, not one official has been criminally investigated, let alone prosecuted and punished for crimes committed during and in the aftermath of the uprising.

‘The anniversary of the “Woman, Life, Freedom” protests offers a stark reminder for countries around the world of the need to initiate criminal investigations into the heinous crimes committed by the Iranian authorities under universal jurisdiction.’

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