Erfan Mortezaee proudly shows us pictures of his cousin Mahsa Jina Amini painted on Berlin’s street walls.
– It is Germans who painted her face and wrote “Woman, life, freedom” in different languages to show their support. I am proud, he says.
It’s been a little less than a year since we last met. That time at the border between Iran and Iraq and it was shortly after the death of Mahsa Jina Amini and the protests were going on all over Iran. They started as a protest against the compulsory veil but quickly grew into a huge dissatisfaction with the Iranian regime.
Large threat image
The threat image against Erfan was great at the time because he criticized the Iranian regime many times after his cousin’s death.
– I was constantly threatened that they would kidnap me in Iraq and take me to Iran, he says.
Finally, with the help of France and Germany, he managed to leave the Kurdish parts of Iraq and then lives for a while in Berlin. From there, he continues to prosecute the family’s case.
– Jina was not politically active but was a completely ordinary Iranian without belonging to any political party. She wanted to live a normal life. But her death shed light on the situation in Iran and it became a crossroads where people could no longer remain silent because it could be their children who became the next victims.
The family is under constant surveillance and the grave has been desecrated four times, says Erfan.
He hopes that, together with several human rights organizations, he will be able to push Mahsa Jina Amini’s case, plus several hundred others, to an international court.
– If that were to happen, Iran’s security services would no longer dare to attack the civilian population, says Erfan.
Knocked down quickly
Iran’s regime quickly cracked down on the street protests after the death of Mahsa Jina Amini, but when TV4 visited Iran in the spring, resistance was still heard from rooftops and balconies.
The regime has since responded with increasingly strict rules, but ahead of the anniversary of Mahsa Jina Amini’s death, new demonstrations are planned.
– Recently, we have worked hard to plan and prepare so that the people can demonstrate peacefully and show their dissatisfaction with the regime. We are sure that the regime will try to stop it. We just hope that there will be no more blood that has to flow, says Erfan.
He hopes that his cousin’s death will not be in vain and he describes warmth inside him when he sees the pictures of her in Berlin.
– Imagine that a little girl sees her picture and maybe searches the Internet and can read about her fate. It is nice.