Sat 08 October 2022:
Schoolgirls chanted protest songs, workers went on strike, and street brawls broke out all over Iran as Mahsa Amini’s death protests entered their fourth week in defiance of a brutal crackdown.
The death of the Iranian-Kurd, 22, on September 16, three days after she had been detained by “morality police” for allegedly breaking Iran’s strict dress code for women, sparked outrage.
Protests continued on Saturday even as President Ebrahim Raisi posed for a group photograph with students at Tehran’s all-female Al-Zahra University to mark the new academic year.
The government has referred to the demonstrations as a plot by Iran’s enemies, including the United States, and has blamed armed dissidents for the violence that has claimed the lives of at least 20 security personnel.
Raisi spoke to both students and educators.
A video posted on Twitter by the activist account 1500tasvir showed what it said were female students chanting “Raisi get lost” and “Mullahs get lost” as the president visited their campus.
At the same time Ebrahim Raisi visited Al-Zahra University in Tehran today, students chanted “Raisi get lost” and “Mullahs must get lost!” #مهسا_امینی #MahsaAmini #IranRevolutionpic.twitter.com/83IBjgLTk7
— 1500tasvir_en (@1500tasvir_en) October 8, 2022
In another video it shared, a group of girls could be heard chanting the same phrase as they entered a school in Sanandaj, the capital of Kurdistan province.
Gruesome videos were widely shared on Twitter of a man who appeared to have been killed while sitting at the wheel of his car in Sanandaj, where gunfire was heard in other footage.
“They imagine they can achieve their evil goals in universities,” state TV reported. “Unbeknownst to them, our students and professors are alert and will not allow the enemy to realise their evil goals.”
Internet censorship is intended to prevent protests and the distribution of images of the crackdown, but protesters have found new ways to spread their message.
“We are not afraid anymore. We will fight,” said a large banner placed on an overpass of the Modares highway that cuts through central Tehran.
A Kurdish rights organization based in Norway, Hengaw, reported “widespread strikes” in the Kurdistan provinces of Saqez, Sanandaj, and Divandarreh as well as Mahabad in West Azerbaijan.
Shiraz in the south reportedly saw protests, and Isfahan and Tabriz, according to the London-based Iran Wire news website, also saw students skip class to participate in demonstrations.
SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES
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