Elnaz Rekabi goes to the climbing wall without a headscarf and causes a stir. Her performance at the Asian Championships in October is seen as part of the protests in her homeland. One of the consequences, apparently: the family home is destroyed.
Elnaz Rekabi has become one of the most recognizable faces of the Iranian protests. The sports climber, who went to the wall without a headscarf at the Asian Championships in South Korea in October, is now apparently being harassed by the restrictive state. After her return to Iran, she was under house arrest. She was prevented from freely meeting with other athletes, giving interviews or making phone calls.
And her whole family suffers. Because the family home in the northern Iranian province of Zanjan has been demolished. This is reported by the pro-reformation news portal "Iran Wire". Rekabi's brother, Davood, is said to have posted a photo of a destroyed garden on social media, after which he wrote: "Where are you Justice?" And proclaimed combatively: "Whatever life gives us, we accept it, whether it is sadness, happiness, bitterness or poison."
According to the Iranian justice news agency "Mizan", the reason for the destruction was that both the construction and the use of land were "unauthorised". In addition, this happened months before Rekabi's participation in the Asian Championships. Activists who are critical of the government, who speak of a targeted demolition, contradict this. The Iranian authorities have not officially confirmed the explosion, and the media loyal to the state also do not report on the incident. Davood Rekabi is also reportedly fined the equivalent of $5,000 for an unspecified "violation."
According to Iran Wire, the National Olympic Committee and Minister of Sport have threatened the athlete that "her family's land will be confiscated if she leaves the country, gives interviews to the media or engages in sensitive activities on her social sites," a source told the reporter the portal. Before leaving for Seoul, she had to give the Iranian Climbing Association a check for $35,000 and authorize the sale of family property to guarantee that she would return to Iran.
There is also a video of the incident. In this, an unknown man describes what is happening and also shows Davood Rekabi. He stands in front of the property and cries. Like his sister, the 35-year-old is a sport climber and has won medals in national and international competitions. The man from the off said: "This is the result of living in this country. A national champion with medals by the kilo for this country. He worked hard to make this country proud. They pepper sprayed him, destroyed a house and left . What can I say?"
Davood Rekabi was arrested while his sister was in Seoul but was able to receive her upon her return for what was believed to be a staged recording for state television. Elnaz Rekabi also emphasized that she just forgot to wear a hijab. The 33-year-old wore a headband with her hair tied in a ponytail. This statement, which she also affirmed on Instagram, is said to have been forced under pressure, say government critics.
Officially, Iranian representatives had assured the International Olympic Committee and the world association IFSC that Elnaz Rekabi would have "no consequences" to fear after her performance in Seoul. Their competition came shortly after protests ignited in their home country. In mid-September, 22-year-old Mahsa Amini died in custody of the vice squad. She had previously been arrested for allegedly improperly wearing her hijab. The government denies responsibility for the young woman's death. Since then, the protests in Iran have continued, and numerous women symbolically took off their headscarves. Hundreds of people have been killed in the protests.
This Sunday, the vice squad was officially disbanded by the Attorney General's Office, but experts suspect that the situation and the crackdown will not change. The dissolution of the moral police does not mean the end of compulsory headscarves.
