JINA MAHSA AMINI
The face of Iran's protests. Her life, her dreams and her death.
In memory of Jina 'Mahsa' Amini, the cornerstone of the 'Zan. Zendagi. Azadi revolution.
16 February 2023 | By Gino d'Artali
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Read all about the assasination of the 22 year young Jhina Mahsa Amini or Zhina Mahsa Amini (Kurdistan-Iran) and the start of the Zan, Zendagi, Azadi (Women, life, freedom) revolution in Iran  2022
and the latest news about the 'Women Live Freedom' Revolution per month in 2023:  July 15 -1--June 30 - 15--June 15-1--May 31 -16-- May 15-1--April--March--Feb--Jan
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all updates 27 June, 2023

 
<Persian social media is full of young people who say they were shot in the eye by security forces>

Iranwire - July 17, 2023 - By Faramarz Mosavat, Citizen Journalist
<<Treated by a Veterinarian: A Woman Protester's Narrative
Countless people were injured by the Islamic Republic's security forces during the nationwide <Woman, Life, Freedom> protests. This is the story of a woman who was shot in a southern city in the early days of the protests.
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<I didn't see the face of the shooter. He shot me from behind and at close range,> says the woman, whom we shall call Senobar. Almost a year after that fateful moment, she has decided to break her silence and talk about the physical and psychological problems she has been suffering from. <A few days later, I saw a video of that night, that hour and that location on one of the popular pages of Instagram. There were three of them with three shotguns, and they fired three times.>
The Night of the Shooting: <Run, Run!>
Senobar was among thousands of Iranians who were shocked and furious over the September 2022 death in police custody of Mahsa Amini, even before calls to protests had yet to appear on social media. <As protests became increasingly likely, I started thinking more and more that I had to make a decision,> she tells IranWire. <I asked myself: 'Do you go there if a crowd gathers somewhere?' For a few days, I was confused and walked back and forth in my room. I asked myself: 'Why aren't you doing anything? Why are you just sitting?' Eventually I decided that I would feel bad about myself if I didn't respond to the situation and didn't join my friends.> <A few girls and I went to one of the locations where protests were to be held, but nothing was happening there. We decided to go to a second location where we saw people standing there along with a large number of armed agents. We were confused and we didn't know what to do. Little by little we heard the sound of shots coming from a few hundred meters from us. From this moment on, I couldn't clearly remember what happened and in what order.> <I remember the voice of a boy who was shouting: 'Run! Run!....Wait! Go that way.' Then somebody came from the other side of the street and gave each of us a bottle of mineral water. The shooting had subsided a little, but we were hit with teargas. We went to a corner to light up cigarettes. We had heard that cigarette smoke would reduce the effect of teargas on the eyes. My hand was shaking and I repeatedly dropped the cigarette. We again heard shouting and we all panicked and ran into alleyways. As I entered the alley, the water bottle felt too heavy. I dropped it so that I could run faster. It was at that moment that I felt something hot running down at the back of my legs.> The voices are still what Senobar remembers, for instance the voice of somebody who shouted from a house in the alley: <Come here!> <We all went into the yard and somebody closed the door. I had no idea how my companions were doing and this worried and agitated me a lot. As I reached the entrance to the lobby of the apartment house I felt that my knees were trembling, and walking became more difficult for me. Then I saw blood on my white shoes. I had been injured by pellets. A boy and a girl helped me to get up and we went to the apartment of a resident who insisted on helping us. And my friends gradually arrived as well. One of them, a medical student, took me and another wounded person to the bathroom of the apartment and cleaned the injuries. We could still hear the sounds of gunfire in the street.>
Kind Doctors, Unkind Pharmacists
After the wounds were cleaned, a friend of Senobar called her parents and told them what had happened: <My friend's parents came for us in their car. Then they started admonishing us, asking why we had gone to the protests and why we had made trouble....[the doctors] had a different opinion after they looked at the wounds. One said they were just burns and nothing penetrated the skin. Another one speculated that the wounds were caused by lead pellets. My friend's father called a friend of his who was in the military and asked him about the types of pellets they use to crack down on the protests. In short, his answer was that they use different kinds of pellets. The anesthesiologist's diagnosis was that the wounds were not simple burns. To treat the wounds, he said he needed equipment he didn't have at home. So he told me to go home where he would visit me the next morning with everything he needed.> One of Senobar's friends brought her home: <Along the way, she tried hard to buy gauze, Betadine [used for skin disinfection] and bandage, but the pharmacy refused to sell her these items. That night, at the suggestion of another friend, we went to the clinic of her friend who was a veterinarian. She said that they usually use these pellets to shoot animals, so it's possible that a veterinarian surgeon would know better how to solve this problem. He removed around 60 pellets from my legs before the morning of the next day. To remove the rest of the pellets they needed to anesthetize me, but this was not possible to do in the veterinarian's clinic. During those six hours, they talked and chatted with me to distract me from my pain. They also put a kitten next to me....the wife of the veterinarian cooked me halva so that I wouldn't faint.> At home, she could not sleep in fear of a raid by security agents and of being arrested: <The pain in my legs became worse day by day, and the trauma of what had happened wreaked havoc on my mind. Three or four days after the shooting, a friend who's a general practitioner decided to give me a powerful painkiller, a morphine derivative. However, a prescription by a specialist was needed To get this painkiller and, at the request of his former student, a university professor wrote a prescription but once again the pharmacy refused to sell it.>
Yoga, Medication and Continuing Struggle
Two weeks after Senobar was shot and when her fear of arrest subsided a little, her legs were x-rayed: <The depth of the pellets is not clear in the pictures and, therefore, they removed only three pellets after a few ambulatory surgeries and local anesthetics were performed. An elderly doctor that had been a field surgeon during the Iran-Iraq war suggested that I should not be in a hurry to remove the remaining pellets and let the time take care of it. He said it would take 10 to 15 years for the pellets to gradually leave the body. Since then I have suffered from lead poisoning once and found out that the pellets were indeed made of lead. That night I sprained both my ankles and the inflammation of the ankles made the pellets all the more painful.> After two full months of increasing pain, Senobar could go to physiotherapy: <When I tried physiotherapy I had no specific problems, but after a few hours I felt that the pieces of metal in my body were melting hot. That night I suffered from unprecedented pain. These nights I calm myself a little with medication and with yoga.> Besides physical and psychological problems, wounded protesters in Iran have to deal with the financial consequences of their injuries. <I spend half of my monthly income on medication and therapy,> says Senobar. <I work from 6 o'clock in the morning until midnight, but I don't have enough money to pay the rent at the end of the month. Sometimes I feel trapped in a box and being hurt from various directions. In the past few months I've become a weaker person, both physically and psychologically. Some of my former friends are afraid to get together with me. Recently, I've been crying and getting angry quickly. I'm not the same person I was and my companions have changed as well. I have no interest in emigrating and, because of my love for this land and its people, I don't even entertain the idea of leaving this country.>
Remorse No, Frustration Yes
Over the past 10 months, has Senobar ever felt sorry for going to the street? Here is her answer: <I don't feel remorse but I'm frustrated....I would do the same thing again but that doesn't mean I'm less frustrated. Nowadays, when I see where we're standing, I ask myself: 'What was the point? You didn't reach your goal'....and I answer myself: 'My reason for going out of my home at that time was justified. When one is unhappy about the situation, one has to do something.'> Despite what she has suffered, this woman protester believes that if people return to the streets she would join them: <When the movement started, a number of people went to the streets in the early hours and days, and this gave confidence to the rest of the people. Last year I was one of the pioneers, but this time I must be among the second group. I shall wait for the people to return to the streets and then I will join them.> >>
Source:
https://iranwire.com/en/women/118576-treated-by-a-veterinarian-a-woman-protesters-narrative/

Iranwire - July 7, 2023 - by AIDA GHAJAR
<<Blinding as a Weapon (46): Trapped in the Limbo of Asylum Seekers
In the series of reports <Blinding as a Weapon,> IranWire presents the victims' stories told in their own words. Some have posted their stories, along with their names and pictures, on social media. Others, whose real names shall not be disclosed to protect their safety, have told their stories to IranWire, which can make their identities and medical records available to international legal authorities and the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran.
....
This is the story of Vahed Roznavard, a Kurdish man who lost his eye during the first weeks of last year's nationwide protests. For the past month and a half, he has been residing in Turkey. He now hopes to reach a European country and be granted asylum.
***
Shot from 10 Meters Away
Late on October 12, 2022, Vahed Roznavard and his friends joined other protesters in the streets of Mahabad, West Azerbaijan province. While the protesters' chants filled the air, riot squads attacked the crowd on foot, motorcycles, and other vehicles, using tear gas and firearms. Roznavard and his friends sought refuge in the nearby back alleys as the security force were pursuing them through the streets. A masked attacker positioned 10 meters from Roznavard pulled the trigger of his weapon and the young man collapsed to the ground, with his face and upper body drenched in blood. His friends carried him away amid the surrounding chaos. One pellet had perforated Roznavard's left eyeball, while another projectile struck his right eyelid. Several bullets remain lodged in his face, neck and upper body. Numerous accounts emerged of injured protestors being arrested while seeking treatment in medical facilities. That's why Roznavard and his companions embarked on a journey to Tabriz, the capital of East Azerbaijan province. Roznavard spent one night at a hospital there before undergoing surgery the following day.
The Youth of a Child Worker
Roznavard was born in 2001 and grew up in a village before eventually moving with his family to Mahabad. As the youngest child in a family of seven, he began working at a young age. By the time he reached 11 years old, he was already juggling studies and work as a seller and as a stone miner.
The financial strain faced by the family compelled the young boy, who harbored dreams of becoming a footballer, to drop out of school by the 10th grade. For several years, Roznavard has worked as a hairdresser - a profession he loved. However, after losing vision in one eye and experiencing weakening sight in the other, he was unable to continue this career. With his livelihood becoming increasingly precarious, constant threats from members of the paramilitary Basij force further exacerbated his situation. That's why the young man decided to embark on the arduous path of an asylum seeker. He fled to Turkey in May, but he faces deportation when his visa expires in less than two months. Roznavard made an attempt to illegally travel to Greece, but he was intercepted by Greek police at the border. His belongings were confiscated, including his medical file and eye medications, and he was subjected to physical violence before being sent back to Turkey.
His Life Turned Dark
The memories of the moments he was targeted in the eyes reverberate through his nightmares and plague his waking moments. Sleep eluded him for an extended period of time, while his appetite dwindled. At times, thoughts of suicide infiltrated his mind as he grappled with the profound difficulty of accepting the atrocities he had witnessed and the unimaginable tragedy that had befallen him. The loss of Mohammed Ahmadi-Gagash, a dear friend and neighbor who was killed during the protests, also left a deep void in his life. In the face of adversity, Roznavard often expressed a sentiment that encapsulated his resilience: <I may have lost one eye, but the bereaved mothers should have the final say about the attacker and his fellow aggressors.> >>
Source:
https://iranwire.com/en/blinding-as-a-weapon/118270-blinding-as-a-weapon-46-trapped-in-the-limbo-of-asylum-seekers/

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