Tens of thousands of people marched in Berlin on Saturday in a show of support for protesters in Iran where unrest ignited by Mahsa Amini’s death in police custody entered a sixth week despite a deadly state crackdown.
The protests have posed one of the boldest challenges to Iran’s clerical leadership since the 1979 revolution, even if they do not appear close to toppling a government that has deployed its powerful security apparatus to quell the unrest.
Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurd, died in the custody of morality police after being detained for “improper attire.” Protests erupted at her funeral on Sept. 17 in the Kurdish town of Saqez before spreading across Iran. Rights groups say more than 200 people have been killed in the crackdown.
Women have played a prominent part, waving and burning veils. The deaths of several teenaged girls reportedly killed during protests have fueled more anger.
In Berlin, police estimated 80,000 people joined the march, with protesters waving Iranian flags and holding banners saying “Woman, Life, Freedom.” Organizers said Iranians had traveled from the United States, Canada and all over the European Union.
“From Zahedan to Tehran, I sacrifice my life for Iran,” human rights activist Fariba Balouch said after giving a speech at the Berlin gathering, referring to Iranian cities swept up in the protests. The crowd responded with “Death to Khamenei”, referring to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
People attend a protest against the Iranian regime, in Berlin, Germany, Saturday, Oct. 22, 2022, following the death of Mahsa Amini in the custody of the Islamic republic’s notorious “morality police.”.
Markus Schreiber/AP
Amnesty International has said security forces killed at least 66 people in a crackdown after Friday prayers in Zahedan, on Sept. 30.
Molavi Abdolhamid, Zahedan’s leading Sunni cleric, said during his Friday sermon that officials including Khamenei, head of the Shi’ite-dominated state, were “responsible before God” for the Sept. 30 killings. He described the killing as a massacre, saying bullets had been fired at heads and chests.
A short statement on Sepah News, the Revolutionary Guards’ official news site, said: “Mr. Abdolhamid, encouraging and agitating youths against the sacred Islamic Republic of Iran may cost you dearly! This is the last warning!”
State media said at the time of the Sept. 30 violence that “unidentified armed individuals” opened fire on a police station, prompting security forces to return fire.
The Revolutionary Guards said five members of its forces and the volunteer Basij militia were killed during the Sept. 30 violence. Authorities blamed a Baluchi militant group. Neither that group nor any other faction claimed a role.
