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
 .
Gino d'Artali
Indept investigative journalist
CLICK HERE ON HOW TO READ ALL PARTS OF THIS SPECIAL DEDICATED TO JHINA MAHSA AMINI AND ALL OTHERS ASSASINATED BY IRAN'S DICTATORSHIP.
CLICK HERE ON HOW TO READ ALL ON THIS PAGE

Click here for the 2022 'Chapters'

When one hurts or kills a women
one hurts or kills hummanity and is an antrocitie.
Gino d'Artali
and: My mother (1931-1997) always said to me <Mi figlio, non esistono notizie <vecchie> perche puoi imparare qualcosa da qualsiasi notizia.> Translated: <My son, there is no such thing as so called 'old' news because you can learn something from any news.>
Gianna d'Artali

Note by Gino d'Artali: The Zan, zendagi, azadi!> (Women, life, freedom) has just started and will only then end when khamenei and his puppets i.e. the morality police and the basijis give way or go away!!
So here is where the protests continue and I'll continue to inform you about it. That's my pledge.
 

Iranwire
18 March 2023
By IRANWIRE, HAVARI YOUSEFI
<<Exclusive Interview: Mahsa Amini's Father's Nowrouz Wishes For All Iranians
Six months after Mahsa Amini’s death in police custody sparked a wave of public anger against Iran's clerical establishment, her father continues to visit her daughter's grave every day. In an interview with IranWire ahead of Nowrouz, the Persian New Year, Ajmal Amini stated that his family remains dedicated to seeking justice and obtaining the truth regarding the death of the 22-year-old woman.
He also expressed deep sadness over the violence that swept the country following his daughter's tragic death. Mahsa's family is from the northwestern Kurdish city of Saqqez. The young woman died during a visit to Tehran on September 16 after she was arrested by <morality police> for allegedly wearing the mandatory headscarf improperly. The authorities claim Mahsa died of natural causes, but eyewitnesses and her family say she was beaten while inside a police van that took her to a detention center. The Judiciary Hasn't Granted <Any of our Requests> In the interview with IranWire, Ajmal expressed deep disappointment with the lack of impartiality demonstrated by judiciary in this case. <Unfortunately, since the beginning, the county's judicial system has not responded to my complaints and requests, nor have they responded to the [family’s] lawyer in charge of the case,> he said. The family has also requested a review of the footage recorded by an officer's body camera inside the van, but without success. <We also demanded that lawyers representing the case be allowed to investigate and speak with women who were arrested and were with Mahsa in the van. Despite our persistent requests, the judicial system has yet to respond or grant any of our requests,> Ajmal said.
<I'm Deeply Sad about these Events>
....
<My daughter's tragic death sparked widespread protests and outcry both inside and outside the country. However, we didn’t expect these protests and reactions to come at such a high cost for the people,> Ajmal said.
....
<Her death is still fresh in our minds,> he continued. <However, overall, both her mother and I are pleased that the world is paying attention to our daughter's fate. Also, since Mahsa's unjust death has prompted the people of Iran to express their demands, her legacy and the people's response is something we take pride in.> >>
Read all here:
https://iranwire.com/en/news/114891-exclusive-interview-mahsa-aminis-fathers-nowrouz-wishes-for-all-iranians/
Note by Gino d'Artali: everyday I look at Mahsa's portrait and know that what I do is the right thing: for commemorating Mahsa, Allah has her soul, and for the Zan, Zendagi, Azadi movement.

Iranwire
17 March 2023
<<Iranians Mark Six Months Since Amini's Death With New Protests
Thousands of Iranians have marked six months since the death of Mahsa Amini by gathering at the graves of victims of the authorities' brutal crackdown on the protest movement triggered by the young woman’s killing in police custody. The protesters on March 16 paid tribute to those who had died in recent demonstrators, chanting slogans against the Islamic Republic, despite the heavy presence of security forces. According to reports and videos circulating online, rallies were held at cemeteries in multiple cities across the country, including Kermanshah, Rasht, Anzali, Ahvaz, Tabriz, Javanrud, Mahabad, Isfahan, Samirom, Diwandareh, Shahinshahr, Fuman, Lahijan, Shiraz, Eshtehard and Kamiyaran. Clashes were reported between security forces and protesters in Tehran's Behesht Zahra cemetery, as well as in Mashhad, Sanandaj, Arak and Karaj. Iran has been swept by popular protests demanding fundamental economic, social and political changes in the country since Amini's death on September 16. The 22-year-old woman had been arrested for allegedly wearing a hijab improperly. Security forces have cracked down hard on the women-led protest movement, killing more than 520 demonstrators and unlawfully detaining over 20,000, activists say. Following biased trials, the judiciary has handed down stiff sentences, including the death penalty, to protesters.>>
Source:
https://iranwire.com/en/news/114863-iranians-mark-six-months-since-aminis-death-with-new-protests/

Iranwire
17 March 2023
<<Sunni Cleric Says Iran Can’t Be Ruled By One Ethnic Group, One Religion
The most prominent Iranian Sunni cleric has again called for fundamental changes in the way Iran is governed, saying that <one ethnic group and one religion cannot rule the country.> Molavi Abdolhamid, the Sunni Friday prayer leader of Zahedan, made the comments in his Friday sermon on March 17, ahead of weekly pro-tests in the southeastern city against the Shia-ruled Islamic Republic. Activists reported a large presence of security forces in the restive city as hundreds of demonstrators took to the streets after Friday prayers, chanting <Freedom, Freedom, Freedom,> <We don't want the Islamic Republic> and <Political prisoners must be released.> Zahedan is the capital of Sistan and Baluchistan, home to Iran's Sunni Baluch minority of up to 2 million people. Residents have been holding protest rallies every Friday since September 30 when security forces killed nearly 100 people, in the deadliest inci-dent so far in the nationwide demonstrations triggered by the September death of a 22-year-old Kurdish woman, Mahsa Amini, in police custody. Molavi, who has been a key dissenting voice inside Iran since the eruption of the women-led protest movement, said in his Friday sermon that the country’s problems needed a <national> solution that would include having a government that includes <all ethnic groups and religions.> The 76-year-old cleric also denounced the militarization of government bodies, saying, <The nation should not be only governed by security and military administration. Yet all posts and positions are currently held by military personnel. The presence of police officers in the streets should be avoided,> he added. <In many countries, when security is high, there is no need for a visible police presence since the people's general trust in the government is strong.> Iranian security forces have unleashed a brutal crackdown on six months of widespread protests against the clerical establishment, killing more than 520 demonstrators across the country and unlawfully detaining over 20,000 others, activists say. Following biased trials, the judiciary has handed down stiff sentences, including the death penalty, to protesters. The demon-strations and clampdown on dissent have been particularly intense in the country's western Kurdish areas and Sistan and Baluchistan.>>
Source:
https://iranwire.com/en/news/114865-sunni-cleric-says-iran-cant-be-ruled-by-one-ethnic-group-one-religion/

Jinha - Womens News Center
17 March 2023
<<Iran executes 7 more people including one woman
Iran executed seven more prisoners, including a woman, at Orumiyeh Central Prison on Friday morning, March 17.
....
A female prisoner named Nasim Niazi was also executed this
morning. No information has been received about the charges against her. A political prisoner named Mohiuddin Ebrahimi was also executed at Orumiyeh Central Prison this morning.>>
Read more here:
https://jinhaagency1.com/en/actual/iran-executes-7-more-people-including-one-woman-32946?page=1
Opinion by Gino d'Artali: the first 5 executioned were men and drugs-related. About the women there's no information i.e. on what charges is not available.

Jinha - Womens News Agency
17 March 2023
<<Uprising in Iran enters its 7th month
News Center- The <Jin, Jiyan, Azadi> uprising that sparked in Rojhilat and Iran following the killing of Jina Mahsa Amini in Tehran on September 16, 2022, has entered its seventh month. Although the Iranian regime uses all forms of inhuman practices against the protesters, the people continue to demand freedom. The visits to the cemetery on Thursdays have turned into protests in Eastern Kurdistan and Iran since September 16, 2022. People hold protests after visiting the graves of those who were killed during nationwide protests.
Protest in Saqez
Yesterday, dozens of people visited the grave of Jina Mahsa Amini in the city of Saqez by chanting the slogan <Jin, Jiyan, Azadi (English: Women, Life, Freedom)>. In Sanandaj, hundreds of people went to the cemeteries to commemorate those who had been killed during the protests. Commemoration ceremonies were also held in many cities such as Kamyaran, Divandarreh, Bukan, Mahabad and Kermanshah.
Protest in front of the Urmia Prison
People also took to the streets in many Iranian cities such as Tehran, Karaj, Tabriz, Isfahan and many other cities by chanting anti-regime slogans. The families of the people, who were sentenced to death, and hundreds of people held a protest in front of the Urmia Prison demanding the suspension of executions.
The number of executions has risen to 138
According to the Iran Human Rights Organization, 29 people were executed in the first 15 days of February in Eastern Kurdistan and Iran, the number of executions since the beginning of the year has risen to 138.>>
Source:
https://jinhaagency1.com/en/actual/uprising-in-iran-enters-its-7th-month-32950


NCRI - Womens Committee - In IWD speeches - Solidarity
16 March 2023
<<Carmen Quintanilla sends a message of solidarity to Iranian women on IWD2023
María del Carmen Quintanilla, President of AFAMMER, Spanish MP, and Senator until 2020, sent a message of solidarity to the IWD2023 event in Brussels to support Iranian women's struggle for freedom. The text of her message follows:
Hello, good afternoon,
Ladies and gentlemen, officials from all over the world.
Dear President, Madam Rajavi,
I want my first words to be congratulations to you, especially at a time when there is March 4, an emblematic day that you are going to celebrate with all the exiled Iranian women, the Day of Women's Equality.
That is why I want to tell you that I am very sad not to be able to accompany you. Still, above all, I want to express my absolute opposition to the government of Iran, a government that every day violates women's human rights. A government that overwhelms and murders women simply for having a voice and wanting to live in freedom and the rule of law.That is why I want to be by your side on this emblematic day. I want to tell you that I will always be by your side as I have been at other times and that at this moment, I can-not do it because I am flying to New York to participate in the 67th session of the Commission on the Status of Women, which is so important for us. On the eve of March 8, you have my support, solidarity, and love. I will always be by your side. Thank you very much, and keep going, Madam Rajavi defending women's human rights, but above all, defending forcefully and courageously, as you have always done, democracy and the rule of law for the Iranian people. Thank you.>>
Source:
https://women.ncr-iran.org/2023/03/16/carmen-quintanilla/

Iranwire
16 March 2023
<<Baha'i Woman Sentenced to Three Years in Prison
An Iranian Revolutionary Court has sentenced a Baha'i citizen to three years in prison for her faith, amid an intensified crackdown on members of the country’s persecuted religious minority. According to a March 15 message received from Parva Behdad, the Baha'i citizen, who lives in Isfahan, she has been sentenced to three years in prison and a two-year ban on leaving the country. Behdad has also been deprived of her social rights and is required to attend Islamic religious classes for five years. The charges against her include following the Baha'i religion and establishing a Telegram channel for Baha'is. Parva Behdad was arrested on November 14 last year at her residence in Isfahan. After 21 days of solitary confinement, she was transferred from the Intelligence Department to Dolat Abad prison in Isfahan. She was temporarily released on bail on December 18. The Iranian authorities' crackdown on members of the Baha'i minority appears to have accelerated since July. The clampdown has continued after the eruption of nationwide demonstrations in September 2022, with dozens of arrests reported over the past few weeks.
There are some 300,000 Baha'is in Iran, making it the largest non-Muslim religious minority, and an estimated 5 million believers worldwide. Since the Islamic Republic was established in 1979, Baha'is in Iran have faced systematic discrimination and harassment, including deportation, barriers to education, property confiscations, imprisonment, torture and executions.>>
Read more here:
https://iranwire.com/en/bahais-of-iran/114832-bahai-woman-sentenced-to-three-years-in-prison/
Opinion by Gino d'Artali: The Zan, Zendagi, Azadi movement stands for 200 & freedom for all, incl. no matter what religion one believes in.

Iranwire
16 March 2023
By ROGHAYEH REZAEI
<< <Khamenei The Zahhak!> Iranian Activist Re-Arrested Hours After Release
Iranian security forces re-arrested well-known civil rights activist Sepideh Qoliyan overnight, hours after she was released from more than four years in prison. After her release on March 15, Qoliyan posted on Twitter a video of herself without the mandatory hijab shouting slogans against Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei outside Tehran's Evin prison. <Khamenei the Zahhak! We'll take you down into grave,> she shouted, referring to a mythical king said to have fed serpents growing out of his shoulders with young people's brains.
Five hours later, Qoliyan was arrested on a motorway while she and her family were traveling in three cars to their hometown of Dezful, in the southwestern province of Khuzestan. At around 1:00 a.m., the vehicle carrying Qoliyan and her brother was stopped by security forces, an informed source told IranWire. <While the family was travelling from Qom to Arak, they noticed that Sepideh's brother, Mehdi, who was travelling with her, had stopped his car. Plainclothes officers and armed policemen then surrounded them,> the source said.
<There were many cars and a large number of people, so it's unclear how many people were there to arrest Sepideh. All I know is that, as far as my eyes could see, there were plainclothes officers surrounding the family.> The agents told Qoliyan's relatives that she would be transferred to Tehran and advised them to seek information about the case at the prosecutor's office in Evin prison. They did not reveal which intelligence agency they belonged to and did not show an arrest warrant. The relatives were also told that the security forces had been waiting for the family convoy to pass on the motorway for several hours. <They weren't violent and urged Sepideh to calm down the family,> the source said. Qoliyan was arrested along with other activists, protest organizers, and workers during the Haft Tappeh Sugar Factory strike in November 2018.>>
Read more here:
https://iranwire.com/en/khameneicom/114833-khamenei-the-zahhak-iranian-activist-re-arrested-hours-after-release/

France24
16 March 2023
Text by: Bahar MAKOOI
<<Iran's Baloch population leads anti-regime protests six months after Mahsa Amini's death
Six months after the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody, pro-tests have dwindled in many parts of Iran. But in Sistan and Baluchestan province on Iran's eastern border, hundreds of protesters still gather every week after Friday prayers, despite crack-downs by authorities. A crowd of men gathers in the town centre of Zahedan, the capital of Sistan and Baluchestan province, on March 10 in a video shared on social media by local human rights orga-nisation Haalvsh. The men have just finished Friday midday prayers ­and are now chanting slogans together, calling for freedom for political prisoners in Iran. Behind them stands the Grand Makki Mosque, led by imam Molavi Abdol Hamid. The largest Sunni Mosque in Iran has played a central role in continued protests against the Iranian authorities in the southeastern border province, Iran’s second-largest.
....
In early February, the Washington Post authenticated around 100 videos from Baloch protesters giving testimony of violence and intimidation being used against them. <Iran’s feared Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) works in tandem with riot police and plainclothes agents to violently suppress demonstrations - carrying out arbitrary arrests, indiscriminate beatings and, in some cases, opening fire on civilians,> the paper reported. A report published by Amnesty International in March found that at least 13 Balochs had been sentenced to death since January <following grossly unfair trials>. Among these, six young men who took part in protests were sentenced to death for arson and stone-throwing. The report also found evidence of torture including sexual violence to produce forced <confessions>. Sources said that one Baloch detainee, Ebrahim Narouie, had need-les stuck into his genitals. Another, Mansour Dahmardeh, was reportedly beaten so severely that his teeth and nose were broken.>>
Read more here:
https://www.france24.com/en/asia-pacific/20230316-iran-s-baloch-population-lead-anti-regime-protests-six-months-after-mahsa-amini-s-death

Iranwire
15 March 2023
By
<<Iran’s Ebadi Says Islamic Republic <Can't Be Reformed>
Iranian Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi has made a stirring speech at the European Parliament for a regime change in her country, which has been swept by more than five months of protests against the clerical establishment. Addressing MEPs during a March 15 ceremony marking International Women's Day, Ebadi emphasized that the Islamic Republic <cannot be reformed> and that protesters are demanding fundamental changes. She called for a new constitutional that would allow wide ranging reform to take place. Her reference to the <Woman, Life, Freedom> protest movement was met with applause from the audience. Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Union Commission, praised Ebadi's work for democracy and human rights, and hailed the courage of Iranian women, saying that their struggle serves as an <inspiration to women around the world.> Women have been at the forefront of the nationwide protests triggered by the September 2022 death of a 22-year-old woman, Mahsa Amini, in police custody. Amini had been arrested for allegedly wearing the mandatory headscarf improperly.
The security forces have unleashed a brutal clampdown on the protest movement, killing more than 520 protesters and unlawfully detaining over 19,000, activists say. Following unlawful detentions and biased trials, the judiciary has handed down stiff sentences, including the death penalty, to protesters.>>
Source:
https://iranwire.com/en/news/114804-irans-ebadi-says-islamic-republic-cant-be-reformed/

Iranwire
15 March 2023
By KIAN SABETI
<<A Baha'i Grandmother Starts Her Second Decade in Prison
Mahvash Shahriari Sabet, a 70-year-old Baha'i teacher and poet, mother and grandmother, is perhaps even more renowned among people outside Iran than in her own country. She spent 10 years of her life in Iranian prisons, from 2008 to 2017, solely based on her religious beliefs, before her latest arrest on July 31, 2022. Most of her poems were written during this time. Her books Free, Love Story, and You Remember Me have been published abroad since her works are prohibited in Iran. Selections of her poetry titled Prison Poems have been translated into English and have been well-received by people worldwide. In 2017, Sabet was recognized as an International Writer of Courage by PEN International, the literary freedom of ex-pression group, and has also received a prestigious literary award in Norway. She was made an honorary member of PEN in Austria and Denmark. Irish poet Michael Longley, the International PEN award winner in 2017 who shared his accolade with Sabet, compared her to a singing bird trapped in a cage, and praised her lyrical poetry cele-brating beauty in the world. Despite Sabet's past decade in prison, on charges of crimes against national security that her lawyer at the time, Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi, said were never proven, she has once again been sentenced to 10 years in jail for her Baha'i faith and is currently being held in Tehran's notorious Evin Prison. On July 31 of last year, Ministry of Intelligence agents carried out raids in seve-ral cities across Iran, arresting a number of Baha'i citizens, including Sabet. According to Negar Sabet, Mahvash's daughter, her mother's arrest took place while both her parents were recovering from severe covid and seeking care at a friend's house in the north of the coun-try. The agents raided their home in Tehran and confiscated personal documents, notebooks, money, gold, and even an oxygen-measuring device that her father had purchased during his illness, according to the younger Sabet. Meanwhile, another group of agents went after Mahvash Sabet and arrested her under <uncomfortable conditions> before taking her to Evin. According to Negar Sabet, after her mother was transferred to Evin, she was subjected to prolonged and exhausting interrogations despite having covid. Negar even alleges that the interrogators beat her 70-year-old mother during the interrogations.
Mahvash Sabet was kept in solitary confinement for 42 days before being transferred to Evin's Ward 209, where multiple people were being held in solitary cells due to overcrowding. Due to a lack of space, she had to sleep sitting up at night. After five months, she was transferred to the women's political-ideological ward of Evin Prison. Negar believes that her mother was arrested without justification: <The last time she was arrested, she was accused of managing the Baha'i community of Iran, even though the government and the Ministry of Intelligence were fully aware of the existence and activities of the community's leaders and supporters .... they have no evidence to support their accusations against my mother,> she said. >>
Read more here:
https://iranwire.com/en/bahais-of-iran/114799-a-bahai-grandmother-starts-her-second-decade-in-prison/
Related: Poetress and film director (Iran 1935-1967) FOROUGH FAROKHZAD

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