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Dr. Pierrette Herzberger-Fofana, MEP, pays tribute to Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old young Iranian woman who died on 16 September 2022 in police custody following her arrest for violating the Islamic dress rule for women. Her death has led to widespread protests in the country for greater rights. According to Iran Human Rights, at least 201 people have been killed by security forces confronting protests across the country.
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Mahsa Masini, who was killed in the prime of her life, has entered the history of her country as a symbolic figure. She has awakened the national consciousness expressed in this wave of revolt, uniting an entire people.
With the same impetus, the Iranian people are rising up and rejecting the oppression of the regime. Why does a veil, put on incorrectly according to the norms of the moral police, become a crime, an offense that costs the life of a young woman?
Mahsa or Jhina, after her Kurdish name, has paved the way for popular anger.
The Repression of Protesters for women’s Rights in Iran
The women conquer the public space and defend themselves against the brutal oppression by the Iranian government, which violated their basic rights. They express their displeasure, challenge the authorities and prove their courage.
For 43 years, women have been the first targets of the authoritarian morality police, who want to regulate their lives down to the smallest detail.
They are countless victims of the Iranian government’s oppression, such as 26-year-old Neda Agha-Soltan, who was shot dead during protests in 2009, or 29-year-old Sahar Khodayari, who self-immolated in 2019 after being sentenced to prison for dressing up as a man to attend a soccer match. These are her crimes!
Nothing can stop a people in motion, neither beatings, nor imprisonment, nor even murder. This is unacceptable!
We stand in solidarity with the women of Iran and support them in every way. Victory is at the end of their struggle.
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Dr Pierrette Herzberger-Fofana, Member of the European Parliament representing Germany on the platform of the Green Party, is Vice-President of the Development Committee and Co-President of the Intergroup Anti Racism and Diversity (ARDI) of the European Parliament
