As early as July, Faezeh Hashemi was accused of propaganda activities and blasphemy. The daughter of the former president is arrested during a demonstration against the Iranian regime. The women's rights activist instigated protests, the reason given.
The daughter of former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani was arrested during protests following the death of a young woman in police custody in Iran. Faezeh Hashemi was arrested for inciting protests in eastern Tehran, the Tasnim news agency reported.
The women's rights activist has repeatedly come into conflict with the laws of the Islamic Republic. In July she was charged with propaganda activities and blasphemy against the country, the Times of Israel reported. According to media reports, Hashemi had previously criticized Iran's call for the Revolutionary Guards to be removed from a US terror list: she considers the project "harmful" to the country's "national interests". Her father, who was President from 1989 to 1997, had also campaigned for better relations with the West.
The protests against the repressive regime in Iran have been going on for twelve days. On Tuesday evening, demonstrators took to the streets in several cities. According to media reports, several women took off their headscarves. A man is said to have set fire to a banner of Iran's supreme spiritual leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Activists reported that an internet lockdown made it harder to distribute video footage.
The security forces in Iran are using violence against the protests. According to activists, at least 76 people have been killed so far. According to the Oslo-based non-governmental organization Iran Human Rights (IHR), six were women and four children. According to the semi-official Fars news agency, authorities have said that "about 60 people have died" so far. According to the official Irna news agency, the police reported ten dead officials. It was unclear if these were among the 60 dead.
Tehran's crackdown on the protests has been harshly criticized internationally. The demonstrations in Iran are also the subject of a current hour in the Bundestag on Wednesday.
The trigger for the nationwide protests was the death of 22-year-old Kurdish girl Mahsa Amini after she was arrested by the vice squad. Amini was arrested on September 13 on charges of not wearing the Islamic headscarf in accordance with strict regulations. After her arrest, she collapsed under mysterious circumstances at the police station and was pronounced dead at the hospital three days later.
