Dozens of people were injured and at least 13 arrested on Sunday as Iranian authorities violently suppressed demonstrations protesting the death of Jina Amini (Mahsa), a 22-year-old Kurdish woman who was fatally injured by Iran’s morality police.
Police violently intervened with batons and riot shotguns on protests in Saqqez and Sanandaj, two cities in Iran’s Kurdistan province, local NGO Hengaw Organisation for Human Rights reported.
At least 33 people were injured in Saqqez, 14 of them hospitalised, in direct fire from special forces sent to quell the protests, Hengaw reported, with at least five people being also injured in Sanandaj, adding that the real numbers of arrests and injuries may be much higher.
Protesters had taken to the streets after Jina Amini died on Friday due to brain injuries she had sustained earlier that week during her violent arrest by members of the Guidance Patrol, which enforces the Islamic Republic’s strict dress code.
It was reported that the authorities had put Amini into a coma after arresting her and beating her with a baton for improperly wearing her hijab. The police said Amini had suffered a heart attack, but her family disputed this, saying she had been in good health.
The violence suffered by the 22-year-old, who died as a result of her injuries, sparked a massive wave of outrage among Iranians on social media, including some celebrities and media personalities. Anger quickly spread around the world after her death, which US Special Envoy for Iran, Robert Malley called appalling.
Yet the violence continued over the weekend in Amini’s Kurdish home region as the Iranian authorities sent Revolutionary Guards and special forces to suppress the protests.
After breaking up the protest in Saqqez with baton charges and direct fire, security forces reportedly followed injured protesters to hospital, where they interrogated them and threatened hospital staff who reported the situation.
The authorities have also contacted dozens of Kurdish activists in the two cities to threaten them with arrest if they join the protests, the human rights organisation reported.
Kurdish political parties called a general strike for Monday. The situation in the cities remains unstable, and additional Iranian security units have been called to reinforce security forces, Hengaw reported.
At least 13 people had been injured during the protests on 18 September, including a young man in a critical condition, after the anti-riot police used shotguns and tear gas against the protestors
