Brussels: A European lawmaker cut off her hair during a debate in the Parliament to express solidarity with Iranian women amid the ongoing protest in the country, following the death of Mahsa Amini.
Addressing the EU debate in Strasbourg, Swedish politician Abir Al Sahlani said, “We, the people and the citizens of the EU, demand an unconditional and immediate stop of all the violence against men and women in Iran.”
“Until the women of Iran are free, we will stand with you,” Al Sahlani said as she cut off her hair using a pair of scissors in front of members of the European Parliament, according to a video she posted on her Twitter handle.
More than 100 people have been killed in nationwide protests over the death of Mahsa Amini, according to the Norway-based group Iran Human Rights (IHR) NGO.
Iranian schoolgirls and women have come out in huge numbers to demonstrate by removing their hijabs and staging rallies in protest over Amini’s death. Many women have even cut off their hair while chanting anti-government slogans.
Abir Al-Sahlani, a member of the European Parliament, pointed out that three weeks of continuous courage have been shown by the women of Iran. “They are paying the ultimate price for freedom with their lives.”
“Enough of the press releases now, enough of the mumbling, it’s time to speak out, it’s time to act. The hands of the regimes of the mullahs in Iran are stained with blood. Neither history or Allah of god almighty will forgive you for crimes against humanity that you are committing against your own people,” she added.
Amini, 22, died in custody after being arrested by Iran’s “morality police” in Tehran on September 13 for allegedly violating the strict dress code. She later fell into a coma shortly after collapsing at a detention centre and died three days later from a heart attack, according to authorities.
Since her death, thousands have joined anti-government demonstrations throughout the country. Security forces have responded at times with live ammunition, and many people have been killed, injured and detained in the protests.
Last week, the UN chief Antonio Guterres said he was becoming “increasingly concerned” about reports of the rising death toll. He said he had been following events closely, and he called on security forces to stop using “unnecessary or disproportionate force”.
Breaking his silence on the protest, Iran’s Supreme leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei on Monday blamed the United States for the ongoing protest in the country.
Speaking at a graduation ceremony in Tehran, Khamenei said he was heartbroken at the death of the 22-year-old girl in police custody. However, he did not approve of the large-scale demonstrations following the death of Amini.
“We were heartbroken, too. But the reaction to this incident, while no investigation has been done and nothing has been certain, should not have been this that some people come and make the streets insecure, cause the people to feel unsafe, harm the security, burn the Quran, remove the hijab of a woman, burn mosques and hussainiyahs, and arson banks and people’s cars,” he was quoted as saying by news agency IRNA.
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