Concerns and questions are growing regarding the Iranian student arrested after undressing in public on Saturday November 2 in front of Azad University in Tehran, with activists worrying about her possible transfer to a psychiatric hospital.
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The video of the young woman in her underwear, first sitting then slowly walking in front of the prestigious university, went viral over the weekend, and the student was quickly established as a new symbolic figure in the fight for women’s rights in Iran.
“ I salute the courage of this young woman who shows resistance and has risen to the rank of icon for the fight of women in Iran, for the fight of women wherever their rights are threatened. “, declared the head of French diplomacy Jean-Noël Barrot on the France 2 channel, ensuring that the French embassy in Iran was following ” very carefully » his situation.
Uncertainty about his fate
According to the activist groups who revealed the affair on Saturday November 2 and posted the video, the young woman undressed in protest after being harassed by university agents, believing that she did not respect the strict Mandatory Islamic dress code. Another video shows her being violently put into a car by security forces.
The Iranian Fars agency confirmed the incident on Saturday, ensuring that the student was wearing clothes ” inappropriate » in class and had “undressed” after being warned “ calmly » by security guards.
Also readIran: Student undresses in front of Tehran University in protest before being arrested
Amnesty International reacted the same day on allegations of beatings and sexual violence during his arrest “. But uncertainty reigns over the fate of the young woman.
The psychiatric disorders argument put forward
According to the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI, based in New York), based on statements by the spokesperson for Azad University, the young woman was “ forcibly transferred to a psychiatric hospital », without further information. According to the spokesperson for Azad University cited by conservative media, the student was handed over to the police by security agents due to “ immoral. »
“ She was under strong psychological pressure and suffered from mental disorders », According to this source, indicating that the young woman was separated from her husband and mother of two children.
The media IranWire, based abroad, indicated for its part that she was a French language student at university and had never shown signs of psychological disorders. For Chirinne Ardakani, lawyer and president of Iran Justice, which documents the crimes of the Islamic Republic, the authorities always use the same speech to discredit the protesters.
“ There is this tradition of falsification of facts. The Islamic Republic denies the altercation with the young woman, explains that it is in reality a woman who suffers from psychiatric disorders, that if she was violently apprehended by the moral police, it is because she made a spectacle of herself », she explains.
In any case, it is an act of protest because the break with the Islamic Republic is consummated between the Iranian population and the authorities.
Chirinne Ardakani, lawyer and president of Iran justice