Thousands march in Brussels on anniversary of Mahsa Amini's death

Thousands march in Brussels on anniversary of Mahsa Amini's death
Protestors stage a demonstration to mark the first death anniversary of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman who died in custody in Iran's Tehran after being arrested by morality police for allegedly not wearing the hijab.
1 min read
16 September, 2023
The death of Mahsa Amini sparked demonstrations across Iran that spiralled a mass crack down and have resulted in executions. (Photo by Dursun Aydemir/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Iranian emigres marched in Brussels on Friday, the eve of the first anniversary of the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish Iranian woman whose death in the custody of Iran's morality police sparked months of anti-government protests.

Thousands of demonstrators, holding up pictures of Amini and many others killed in the protests, called for the overthrow of Iran's theocracy and the establishment of a democratic republic.

Organisers said they had also demanded a unified European Union policy to hold Iran's Shia clerical rulers accountable for abuses.

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The protests that followed the death of Amini, arrested for allegedly flouting the Islamic Republic's mandatory dress code, spiralled into the biggest show of opposition to the Iranian authorities in years.

Over 500 people including 71 minors were killed, hundreds injured and thousands arrested, rights groups say, in unrest that was eventually crushed by security forces.

The Tehran government has accused the United States and Israel and their local agents of fomenting the unrest to destabilise Iran.

(Reuters)