BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) – The European Parliament has condemned the violence against system-critical protests in Iran and called for penalties for the “murderers” of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini. A majority of MPs agreed to a corresponding resolution on Thursday, as the parliament announced. Security forces involved in violence against demonstrations should also be punished. MEPs also called for an impartial investigation into Amini’s death and allegations of torture and ill-treatment by an independent body.
The trigger for the ongoing demonstrations in Iran was the death of the Aminis in mid-September. The moral police had arrested her because of her allegedly “un-Islamic outfit”. She went into a coma and died in a hospital on September 16. The police deny using violence.
Parliament speaks of mistreatment during detention. The draft resolution said eyewitnesses saw Amini being beaten by the police. Since the young woman’s death, thousands of people have been demonstrating across the country against the government and the conservative Islamic system. The chair of the European Parliament’s Iran delegation, Cornelia Ernst, said: “We will never stop supporting protests like the one in Iran wholeheartedly because they are just.”
While the EU Parliament was debating the protests on Tuesday, Swedish MEP Abir Al-Sahlani cut his hair at the lectern in solidarity with women in Iran. She had previously said that there was blood on the hands of those in power in Iran. 50 famous French actresses and singers had also cut their hair in solidarity./mjm/DP/men