Participants in the large demonstration “Solidarity with the protesters in Iran” are at the starting point, at the big star Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Paul Zinken
From BZ/dpa
Thousands of people showed solidarity with the protests in Iran at a demonstration in Berlin.
People from many parts of Europe came together at the Berlin Victory Column on Saturday. According to initial police estimates, around 6,000 people were on site when the demonstration started. Even after the start, crowds streamed from all directions to the demonstration.
Numerous Iranians had already arrived from dozens of cities during the night and early morning to support the system-critical protests in Iran. The protests against the Islamic Republic and its authoritarian course of government have not stopped for five weeks.
The demonstration was registered by the “Woman* Life Freedom Collective”, which wants to stand up against oppression and discrimination in Iran. Numerous organizations supported the call. The participants wanted to walk from the Großer Stern in Berlin through the Berlin government district. The slogan of the protests “Woman, life, freedom” was also prominently shouted.
► The mass protests in Iran were triggered by the death of the 22-year-old Iranian Kurd Mahsa Amini in mid-September. The moral police had arrested her because she allegedly did not comply with the mandatory rules for wearing a headscarf. The woman died in police custody on September 16. Since her death, thousands have been demonstrating against the repressive course and the Islamic system of rule.
The well-known Iranian activist Hamed Esmaeilion had also called for the demonstration. After the death of his wife and daughter, he became an activist at demonstrations abroad against the Islamic Republic. His family died when a Ukrainian passenger plane was shot down near Tehran in January 2020. He is scheduled to be the keynote speaker at Saturday’s demonstration.