Thousands of people gathered on Saturday, October 29, in Paris and other French cities in support of the protest movement that has shaken Iran since the death of Mahsa Amini, and to demand stronger pressure on the regime of Tehran.
In the capital, 2,500 people took part in the rally at Place de la République, according to the Paris police headquarters. The demonstrators were waving numerous Iranian flags and placards with slogans such as “Women, life, freedom” or « They kill us in your silence #mahsaamini » (they kill us while you are silent).
“I think there is a real revolution and I think they will get to freedom”said Mahtab Ghorbani, 39, a writer exiled in France for five years and one of the organizers of this gathering. “I am very happy with the solidarity of the French, who cut their hair and share videos. On the other hand, at the political and diplomatic level, we need a little more severe measures.for his part estimated Mahboubeh Moradi, 35, an anthropology student and member of the collective at the initiative of the demonstration.
In Toulouse, they were about 150 to parade. Armed with Iranian flags, the demonstrators formed a human chain while chanting “Women, life, freedom”.
Demonstrations harshly repressed
In Lyon, around 250 people, according to the Rhône prefecture, answered the call of the Collective of former students of Lyon and took part in a march starting from Place Bellecour. They were holding up signs “Solidarity for Freedom”, “We are all revolted”, « #MahsaAmini »and chanted “We don’t want the Islamic regime, we don’t want the misogynistic regime”, “Yes to a democratic republic in Iran”.
“We want France to think more about human rights than economic interests”, explained Saeed Shafiei, 47, member of the Collective. For this Franco-Iranian doctoral student at the Institute of Political Studies (IEP) in Lyon, “Iranian diasporas in France must give energy”to those who have been fighting since “43 days” against a government “totalitarian and repressive”, “murderer of more than 200 Iranian brothers and sisters” but above all that “foreign powers act”.
In Iran, since the death on September 16 of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurd, the protest, led in particular by women, has not weakened. Mahsa Amini died three days after she was arrested in Tehran by morality police who accused her of breaking the Islamic Republic’s strict dress code. To the initial slogan of “women, life, freedom” were added, over the course of harshly repressed demonstrations, slogans openly directed against the Islamic Republic founded in 1979.