Iranians remember Mahsa Amini amid fears of clampdown, ‘chokehold on dissent’ to prevent riots

Activists caution of renewed crackdowns and ‘chokehold on dissent’ to prevent a repeat of last year’s riots that followed the death of Mahsa Amini

Mahsa Amini’s father was arrested on Saturday morning before being later released with a warning not to hold the memorial service, according to reports

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In Melbourne, Australia, protesters mark the one-year anniversary of Mahsa Amini’s death in custody. Photo: EPA-EFE

Published: 6:26pm, 16 Sep 2023

Iranians at home and abroad marked the first anniversary on Saturday of the death in police custody of Mahsa Amini, with activists speaking of a renewed crackdown to prevent any resurgence of the protests which rocked the country last year.

Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurd, died a few days after her arrest by religious police for allegedly violating the strict dress code for women in force since soon after the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Her family says she died from a blow to the head but this is disputed by Iranian authorities.

Anger over her death rapidly expanded into weeks of taboo-breaking protests which saw women tearing off their mandatory headscarves in an open challenge to the Islamic republic’s system of government under supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

A photo of Mahsa Amini at a condolence meeting in New Delhi. Photo: Reuters

Reports from outside Iran said the father of Mahsa Amini was briefly arrested on Saturday morning before being later released, as official pressure grows on the family not to held a memorial ceremony for her.

Amjad Amini was detained while exiting the family home in the western town of Saqez and then released after being warned not to hold the memorial service, the Kurdistan Human Rights Network and 1500tasvir monitor said.

Official news agency IRNA described the reports of the arrest as “false”, saying they were aimed at “inciting the population to protest”.

Amjad Amini was already summoned by intelligence officials last week after his announcement he planned to hold a memorial ceremony. One of Amini’s uncles, Safa Aeli, was detained in Saqez on September 5 and remains in custody.