JINA MAHSA AMINI
The face of Iran's protests. Her life, her dreams and her death.
In memory of Jina 'Mahsa' Amini, the cornerstone of the 'Zan. Zendegi. Azadi revolution.
16 February 2023 | By Gino d'Artali
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Gino d'Artali
and: My mother (1931-1997) always said to me <Mi figlio, non esistono notizie <vecchie> perche puoi imparare qualcosa da qualsiasi notizia.> Translated: <My son, there is no such thing as so called 'old' news because you can learn something from any news.>
Gianna d'Artali.


Jina Amini cries out from her grave *REVOLUTION!* in Kurdish

Jina Amini's parents grieving at the hospital

Plane grounded because it depicts Jina Amini
NCRI - Womens committee - 13 Dec 2023 - in Women's News
<<President of the European Parliament: This is not a prize. We hope to show the strongest of messages and the clearest of signals to our sisters in Iran that we will continue to stand by them. We have asked the EU to include the IRGC in EU's terrorist list. This is not a position that we will let go of. On Tuesday, December 12, 2023, the European Parliament awarded the Sakharov Prize to Zhina Mahsa Amini and the Women, Life, Freedom Movement at a ceremony during the Plenary Session presided by Ms. Roberta Metsola, the President of the European Parliament. Mr. Josep Borrell, the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, was also in attendance. The award was given to Mr. Saleh Nikbakht, the lawyer of the family of Zhina Mahsa Amini on their behalf, as well as Ms. Afsoon Najafi, the sister of Hadiss Najafi, who was killed by security forces during the 2022 Iran protests, and Ms. Mersedah Shahin Kar, an athlete who lost one of her eyes during the 2022 Iran uprising. On December 8, the clerical regime banned the family of Zhina Mahsa Amini from leaving the country to receive this award and confiscated the passports of her father, mother, and brother at the airport. The EP President Roberta Metsola expressed her dismay over the Iranian regime's prevention of the departure of the family of Zhina Mahsa Amini to receive their daughter's award. She said, <Their treatment is another example of what the people of Iran face every day.> President Metsola added, <Let me say that the courage and resilience of Iranian women in their fight for justice, liberty and human rights will not be stopped. Their voices cannot be silenced... Since her (Zhina Mahsa Amini) killing, hundreds more protestors have reportedly been killed and thousands have been detained.>
The message of the mother and family of Zhina Mahsa Amini to the EP
At the awards ceremony, the Amini family's lawyer read the message of Mrs. Mojgan Eftekhari, Zhina's mother. Part of this message reads: <I would have loved to be present in your precious gathering, to personally and on behalf of all the women of my land, thank you donors of the precious Sakharov Prize, the symbol of freedom award of the European Parliament. Unfortunately, contrary to all legal and humanitarian standards, they denied me this opportunity.>
Metsola: EP stands with the people of Iran in their push for change
In a press conference before the ceremony, the President of the European Parliament said, <This year's Sakharov Prize serves as a tribute to all the brave and defiant women, men, and young people in Iran who, despite coming under increasing pressure, are continuing the push for change...<The European Parliament hears you and supports you. We have adopted four resolutions over the last year condemning the Iranian regime's unacceptable attempts to silence protesters and demanding sanctions against officials involved in the protesters' repression. To you and all the unknown and the numerous, so many women who dared to start a revolution: You are not alone. We are with you.> In response to questions posed at the press conference, the EP President said, <You mentioned the four resolutions, all of which have very severely condemned, and repeatedly so, the anti-
women policies of the Islamic Republic of Iran. We want to go further. We have asked the European Union, and its members states, to increase its sanctions targeting Iranian officials responsible for the extremely violent crackdown and to include the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in EU's terrorist list. This is not a position that we will let go of. It is extremely important to us.> She also said, <I am very clear, that this is not a prize for the sake of being a prize. (And we hope) to show the strongest of messages and the clearest of signals to our sisters in Iran that we will continue to stand by them.> >>
Source:
https://women.ncr-iran.org/2023/12/13/zhina-mahsa-amini/

Jinha - Womens News Agency 12 Dec 2023
<<EU Lawmakers urge Iran to allow Jina Mahsa Amini's family to receive 2023 Sakharov Prize
News Center- European Parliament members on Monday urged Iran to allow the family of Jina Mahsa Amini to travel to France to collect the 2023 Sakharov Prize, EU's top rights prize. Authorities in Tehran confiscated the passports of Jina Mahsa Amini's mother, father and brother and stopped them boarding a flight to Paris. <This restriction is aimed at silencing Jina Mahsa Amini's family, preventing them from speaking out about the Islamic Republic's outrageous repression of women's rights, human rights and fundamental freedoms in Iran,> European Parliament members wrote in a letter. <We cannot tolerate this, the truth must not be silenced and the face of this incredible liberation movement should be shown to Europe and the world.> 116 MEPs called on Iran <to retract this decision and to allow Jina Mahsa Amini's mother, father and brother to travel to the European Parliament in Strasbourg on Tuesday to receive the 2023 Sakharov Prize.> >>
Source:
https://jinhaagency.com/en/actual/eu-lawmakers-urge-iran-to-allow-jina-mahsa-amini-s-family-to-receive-2023-sakharov-prize-34283

Iranwire - 12 Dec 2023 - by ARASH AZIZI AND AIDA GHAJAR
<<Mahsa Amini Family Lawyer Speaks Out Against Travel Bans and Stonewalling
Every year since 1988, the European Parliament has awarded its Sakharov Prize to a recipient who has dedicated themselves to human rights and freedom of thought.The prize is named after a legendary Soviet dissident and goes to individuals who, like Andrei Sakharov, showed remarkable courage against tyranny. The award is also sometimes given to entire movements - often through the individuals who best represent the whole.
The award in 2011, for instance, went posthumously to Mohamed Bouazizi, the young Tunisian man whose tragic self-immolation protest sparked a revolutionary wave across the Arab world. For 2023 the Sakharov Prize has been awarded to the Woman, Life, Freedom movement which shook Iran and the world last year through its thunderous emergence against the opressive Islamic Republic. The European Parliament gave the award jointly to Women, Life, Freedom and to the young Kurdish-Iranian woman whose death at the hand of the authorities helped sparked it, Mahsa Jina Amini.
Mahsa's parents and brother were invited to travel to Strasbourg, one of the seats of the European Parliament, to receive the award in her name.
The family should have been in Strasbourg today to receive the award and the 50,000-euro prize money. But on December 8 when they travelled from their native Saqqez, in Iranian Kurdistan, to Tehran’s Imam Khomeini International Airport, all three were stopped from boarding their flight. The authorities confiscated their passports and announced that they were barred from leaving Iran. One person only in the party was allowed to leave for France: Saleh Nikbakht, the family's lawyer. Nikbakht has for months represented the Mahsa Amini family as they seek justice for their lost daughter. Today he will also represent them before Europe and the world. Shortly after he arrived in Paris, Nikbakht sat down with IranWire's Aida Qajar, during which he spoke of the stressful day at the Tehran airport that ended with the Aminis being barred from travel and of the sentence issued against himself in Iran's courts and of the family’s relentless pursuit of justice. Ebullient, confident, you wouldn't be able to tell that Nikbakht is 78 years old. Born in 1945 in Iran's Kurdistan province, his long history of activism and legal practice transverses modern Iranian history. For the last few decades, as Iranian civil society has butted heads with the repressive regime, Nikbakht has represented many of its prominent figures. One of his former clients is the filmmaker Jafar Panahi who, alongside lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh, won the Sakharov Prize in 2012. And in 2009, as the regime cracked down on mass protests, Nikbakht helped represent some of the dozens of activists who were gathered up in Stalinist-style show trials. (IranWire's founder and editor-in-chief, Maziar Bahari, was a defendant at one such trial.) Despite all his experience with the regime, however, Nikbakht seems shocked and visibly upset that the Amini family could not travel to receive the Sakharov award themselves. <I am sure you saw it in my face when I arrived,> he tells IranWire. <I was both worried and upset. I am very worried about this situation.> The three Aminis would have been fitting stand-ins for their daughter - a role that already has played an important part in the spread of the Woman, Life, Freeodm movement. Ashkan, Mahsa's brother, was the first to speak to the media in the days after her death. And it was her father Amjad who hired Nibakht to sue the government when they issued an obviously faulty forensic report on her death. And her mother Mojgan, who wrote a Kurdish phrase on her grave in Saqqez, inspired a nation with her words; <Dear Jina, you will never die; your name will become a symbol.> Back in October, when the European Parliament declared that the award would be given to the Mahsa Amini family and the Women, Life, Freedom movement, the family debated who should make the trip to Strasbourg. Mojgan was the most reluctant to go. Nikbakht helped to convince her that it would be great if the whole family traveled together. The family did question whether the government would allow them to leave the country. Ever since Mahsa's death in police custody, in September 2022, the family has been <under continuous pressure by various authorities,> says Nikbakht, and has been <repeatedly summoned to the Ministry of Intelligence, the governor's office, and so on.> But Amjad Amini did not leave things to chance - he had already enquired with the authorities about their trip. <Mr Amini had asked me for a letter to tell the authorities about the trip,> Nikbakht says. <I told him he doesn’t need one since the trip was ordinary and legal. But he still asked me to write it. He first gave it to the Saqqez governor's office. He was told it needed to go to the head of the political department at the governor's office in Sanandaj, the provincial capital, who is trusted by security and intelligence agencies. The letter was registered in both places.> <They told him there was no problem with the trip but that he had to be careful with his behavior abroad,> Nikbakht says. <When they came to Tehran [before traveling] to get their visa from the French embassy, there was also no problem.> But as the family drove back to Saqqez after collecting their visas in Tehran, a trip that takes more than seven hours, the intelligence authorities called Amjad and asked them to turn back for a meeting. The families were already hours away from Tehran at this point, near the central Iranian city of Qazvin, when the call arrived. <They asked [the family] to stay back in Qazvin and wait for the authorities there,> Nikbakht says. <But Mr Amini said they were busy and had to rush back to Saqqez. He asked the authorities to speak to him via the intelligence offices in Saqqez if they had to.> The family were never contacted again and assumed everything was fine. When December 9 came, the day of the family's flight, the Aminis and Nikbakht made their way to the airport and confident that they would not have a problem. The flight was at 230pm but they arrived at the airport at 10am. The group checked in, received their boarding passes, paid the exit tax. Then came the security check. Mojgan was first. From behind, the rest of the party could see her arguing with the officer in charge. It was clear there was a problem. Amjad went to join her. Before long the couple were told they had been barred from leaving the country. Ashkan, who was also leaving to study abroad, was next in line. He was first told the problem might be with his student enrollment. But when he showed the necessary documents, it was confirmed that he too had been barred from leaving the country. Nikbakht now had a decision to make. He was allowed through security and could leave: bit should he go ahead to represent the family at Tuesday's historic ceremony? <I was very upset,> he says. <This family is bereaved. They lost their daughter and Jina's death didn't touch just them but many in Iran and around the world.> Amjad spoke to Nikbakht on the phone and insisted he should go. The lawyer boarded the flight to Frankfurt and made his way to Paris soon after. Why had the Aminis been turned back while he, who in fact has a jail sentence hanging over his head in Iran, was allowed to leave by the government? Nikbakht can only speculate. But he is adamant that there were no legal grounds to bar the family as there was no court case against them. <Maybe they thought the Aminis wouldn't return,> he says. <But we looked at the government's online system and the only case registered under their names was as claimants in the homicide division in Tehran. This was their follow-up on Jina's death.> When Mahsa Amini's death was followed by nationwide protests that brought tens of thousands of Iranians to streets, the government launched an unprecedented crackdown. Dozens were killed by security forces while up to 18,000 were arrested. But the Islamic Republic had been careful not to charge the Amini family itself of any crimes - perhaps worried about adding fuel to the fire of the protests which were especially fervent in Kurdistan. After Nikbakht left for Europe, the Aminis tried to learn more about their travel ban from judicial authorities in Tehran. They were told that a ban on the family leaving Iran had been in place since 2022 and, following a standard policy, was extended every six months. But they had never been told nor were they given a reason for the ban. The family was told only that the Ministry of Intelligence had asked for them to be barred from leaving the country.
<How can you punish people for something they haven't yet done?> Nikbakht asks. <They haven't even reached Europe yet. How did the authorities know what they would say?> Nikbakht is adamant that he will press on Mahsa's case despite it going nowhere through Iran's official channels. He still wants a panel of competent doctors to study Mahsa's case since, alongside the family, he believes the initial forensic report was faulty. The report specifically denied that Mahsa had been killed by a blow to her head and tried to use her medical history to imply this explained her sudden demise. But it failed to determine a definite cause for her death. Nikbakht is still bitter that the panel he had put together, including department heads of major medical schools in Tehran, Tabriz, Kermanshah, Mashhad and Shiraz, were not allowed to be involved in the case as experts. <I had specifically picked people who were known to be both religious and very highly regarded,> he says. But having long weathered the injustices of the Islamic Republic, Nikbakht exudes patience, as someone who knows the struggle is long. He speaks of his worries for the Aminis and smiles as he says he is concerned <but with calm, not anger.> Nikbakht will face a jail sentence of his own if he returns to Iran. In October he was sentenced to a year in prison and a ban from social media because of interviews he gave to foreign outlets. Nine interviews were cited in the court as evidence - only two of them concerned Jina’s case. The rest dated back to 2019 and covered issues as diverse as a ban on motorcycle licenses for Iranian women and a protest against Turkiye's attacks on Syria. The latter issue especially grates. Like many of his fellow Iranian Kurds, and other human rights activists in Iran and around the world, Nikbakht has been concerned with years of Turkish attacks on Kurdish communities in northeastern Syria. He signed petitions and gave interviews on the topic and he condemned the attacks as a violation of Syrian sovereignty. And bizarrely he has been handed a jail sentence for such interviews while Iran’s own Ministry of Foreign Affairs has also spoken out against Turkish incursions into Syrian territory. And while it may seem pointless to engage such a legal system, with no hope of progress, this lawyer is not yet ready to give up. <Seeking justice will not always get any results,> he says, with a kind of sage detachment. <But it should always be the first resort.> >>
Source:
https://iranwire.com/en/features/123447-mahsa-amini-family-lawyer-speaks-out-against-travel-bans-and-stonewalling/

Iranwire - 12 Dec 2023
<<EU Remembers Mahsa Amini at Sakharov Prize Awarding Ceremony
The European Parliament officially awarded the EU's top human rights prize to Mahsa Amini and the Woman, Life, Freedom protest movement in Iran during a ceremony in Strasbourg on December 12. <This year's Sakharov Prize serves as a tribute to all the brave and defiant women, men and young people in Iran who, despite coming under increasing pressure, are continue the push for change,> the parliament’s President Roberta Metsola said.
Metsola deplored that none of Mahsa's relatives was allowed to attend the event, saying that the travel ban imposed by Iranian authorities on the family <is another example of what the people of Iran face every day.> In a heartfelt message to the Sakharov Prize Committee, Mahsa's mother, Mojgan Eftekhari, said she would have liked to attend the ceremony and <thank you personally and on behalf of all the women of my land.>
<Unfortunately, contrary to all legal and humanitarian norms, we have been denied this opportunity,> she added. The ceremony was attended by the Amini family's lawyer, Saleh Nikbakht, as well as Iranian women's rights defenders Afsoon Najafi and Mercedeh Shahinkar. Mahsa, 22, died in Tehran in September 2022 while in police custody, three days after she was arrested for an alleged hijab infraction. Her death triggered months of protests that spread across the country and rapidly escalated into calls for the overthrow of the four-decade-old Islamic theocracy in Iran. Authorities responded with a brutal crackdown in which more than 500 people were killed and over 22,000 others were unlawfully detained, according to activists.
Following biased trials, the judiciary handed down stiff sentences, including the death penalty, to protesters. At least eight of them have been executed so far. The 27-nation EU has imposed several rounds of sanctions on Iranian officials and entities for their involvement in the clampdown on the women-led protests. In her message, Eftekhari wrote that her daughter <spread the dream of freedom from her hometown of Kurdistan to the whole of Iran, the Middle East and the world, mobilizing millions of oppressed women and men.> <I firmly believe that her name will forever embody freedom alongside Joan of Arc's name,> she added, in referrence to a saint honored as a defender of the French nation during the Hundred Years' War.>>
Source:
https://iranwire.com/en/news/123454-eu-remembers-mahsa-amini-at-sakharov-prize-awarding-ceremony/

Iranwire - 11 Dec 2023
<<EU Lawmakers Decry <Unlawful> Travel Ban on Mahsa Amini's Family
More than 100 members of the European Parliament have urged Iranian authorities to allow Mahsa Amini's family to leave the country to receive the 2023 Sakharov Prize at a ceremony in Strasbourg on December 12. The travel ban imposed by the Islamic Republic's authorities on Mahsa's relatives <is unlawful as they are not subject to any charge or prosecution,> the lawmakers said in an open letter. They said that the restriction is aimed at <preventing them from speaking out about the Islamic Republic's outrageous repression of women's rights, human rights and fundamental freedoms in Iran.> Hours before the Amini family was set to depart for France on December 8, authorities at Imam Khomeini International Airport prevented them from boarding their flight. Authorities confiscated their passports and informed them that they were not authorized to leave the country. <Despite our inquiries, officials refused to provide a solid reason for the travel ban and said it would remain in effect until January 20, 2024,> the family said in a statement. In October, the EU parliament awarded its prestigious Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought to Mahsa and the Women, Life, Freedom protest movement in Iran. Mahsa, 22, died in Tehran in September 2022 while in police custody, three days after she was arrested for an alleged hijab infraction. Her death triggered protests that spread across the country and rapidly escalated into calls for the overthrow of the four-decade-old Islamic theocracy in Iran. Authorities responded with a brutal crackdown in which more than 500 people were killed and over 22,000 others were unlawfully detained, according to activists. Following biased trials, the judiciary handed down stiff sentences, including the death penalty, to protesters. At least eight of them have been executed so far. The 27-nation EU has imposed several rounds of sanctions on Iranian officials and entities for their involvement in the clampdown on the women-led protests.>>
Source:
https://iranwire.com/en/women/123403-eu-lawmakers-decry-unlawful-travel-ban-on-mahsa-aminis-family/

Iranwire - 11 Dec 2023 - by AIDA GHAJAR
<<Lawyer Calls Travel Ban on Amini Family a <Form of Retribution>
The mother, father and brother of Mahsa Amini were scheduled to depart from Tehran last week to attend the 2023 Sakharov Prize ceremony in Strasbourg on December 12. However, the authorities prevented Mojgan Eftekhari, Amjad Amini and their son Ashkan from boarding their flight at Imam Khomeini International Airport on December 8. In October, the EU parliament awarded its prestigious Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought to Mahsa Amini and the Women, Life, Freedom protest movement. Saleh Nikbakht, one of the family's legal representatives, was accompanying the Amini family. He was not barred from traveling and arrived in France to attend the ceremony. In an interview with IranWire, the lawyer explained that the Amini family had been hesitant about accepting the European Parliament's invitation due to the intense pressure they had endured from security and government agencies since Mahsa's death in September 2022. At the airport, Nikbakht said, the family received their boarding passes after completing all the necessary procedures. But as they approached the boarding gate, Mojgan Eftekhari was stopped by an officer and engaged in a heated argument. Amjad Amini intervened and the two were taken to an office where individuals prohibited from traveling are typically held. Ashkan proceeded to the gate, where he was stopped and informed that due to his student status, he required approval from his university before leaving the country. Nikbakht, who was not detained, contacted Amjad Amini to ask him what he should do, and Mahsa's father encouraged him to depart and attend the Strasbourg ceremony. <I was very upset, tired and saddened by what had happened. It wasn't right because they were a grieving family; they had lost their daughter,> the lawyer told IranWire. Previously, the lawyer had been sentenced to one year in prison and banned from carrying out any social media activity for a period of two years for <propaganda against the system.> He said that his decision to attend the ceremony was driven by a sense of responsibility to honor Mahsa's memory. In a statement released on December 9, the Amini family asserted they had informed the governorate of Kurdistan province and other relevant authorities about their planned trip to France. None of these authorities indicated any objections or restrictions. <Upon arrival at Tehran International Airport, despite having the necessary visas and a legitimate reason to travel, we were unexpectedly informed by passport control officers that we were prohibited from leaving the country,> the family said in its statement. <Our passports were confiscated and we were given receipts instructing us to visit the Tehran General Passport Office the following morning to retrieve our passports,> they added. But officials at the passport office claimed to know nothing of the situation and directed the family to the Prosecutor General's Office in Tehran. The Amini family then visited this office accompanied by another lawyer. Tehran's first deputy prosecutor informed the family they had been prohibited from leaving Iran at the behest of the Ministry of Intelligence. <Despite our inquiries, officials refused to provide a solid reason for the travel ban and said it would remain in effect until January 20, 2024,> according to the family. Nikbakht told IranWire that the Amini family had informed the Saqqez Intelligence Department, Sanandaj Governorate and Political Vice-Chancellor of the province about their planned travel to France. The lawyer said that the travel ban <is illegal and a form of retribution.> He argued that the authorities should not prevent individuals from leaving Iran simply because they believe they may engage in activities in the future that are deemed objectionable.
Nikbakht urged the authorities to allow the Amini family to leave the country to receive the Sakharov Prize and continue the pursuit of justice for their loved one. Mahsa, 22, died in Tehran in September 2022 while in police custody, three days after she was arrested for an alleged hijab infraction. Her death triggered protests that spread across the country and rapidly escalated into calls for the overthrow of the four-decade-old Islamic theocracy in Iran. Authorities responded with a brutal crackdown in which more than 500 people were killed and over 22,000 others were unlawfully detained, including dozens of lawyers. Following biased trials, the judiciary handed down stiff sentences, including the death penalty, to protesters. At least eight of them have been executed so far.>>
Source:
https://iranwire.com/en/features/123407-lawyer-calls-travel-ban-on-amini-family-a-form-of-retribution/

Iranwire - 9 Dec 2023
<<Mahsa Amini's Family Decries Travel Ban on Eve of Human Rights Award Ceremony
The family of Mahsa Amini has in a statement expressed frustration at the sudden and unexplained travel ban imposed on them by the Iranian authorities overnight yesterday. Mahsa Amini died in police custody on September 16, 2022, after her arrest for <improper> hijab. Her death sparked the Woman, Life, Freedom movement in Iran and months of protests. Hours before Amini's family was to depart for France, where she will be honoured with the European Parliament's prestigious Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, authorities at Tehran's Imam Khomeini International Airport prevented them from boarding their December 8 flight. <Upon arrival at Tehran International Airport, despite having the necessary visas and a legitimate reason to travel, we were unexpectedly informed by passport control officers that we were prohibited from leaving the country,> the family said in its statement.
A copy of the statement was received by IranWire.
<Our passports were confiscated and we were given receipts instructing us to visit the Tehran General Passport Office the following morning [Saturday, 9 December] to retrieve our passports,> the family added. But officials at the passport office claimed to know nothing of the situation and directed the family to the Prosecutor General's Office in Tehran. The Amini family then visited this office accompanied by their lawyer. Tehran's first deputy prosecutor informed the family they had been prohibited from leaving Iran at the behest of the bailiff - the Ministry of Intelligence.
<Despite our inquiries, officials refused to provide a solid reason for the travel ban and said it would remain in effect until January 20, 2024,> the family said. The family had also checked their account on the Islamic Republic judiciary online system before visiting the prosecutor but found no record of any court case against them. The Prosecutor's Office confirmed that there was no case and that the travel ban was imposed based on the Ministry of Intelligence request. <Despite recent directives from the head of the judiciary criticizing unnecessary travel bans and emphasizing the need for prompt notifications, our family received no prior notice or judicial order regarding the travel restriction,> the family said. <This lack of communication led us to travel from Saqqez to Tehran under the assumption that, if banned, we would have been informed in advance,> they added.
The exact reasons behind the Ministry's decision remain unclear and requests for more information from the Prosecutor's Office have yielded no results. But it is widely believed to be a politically-motivated move aimed at silencing Amini's family and suppressing the burgeoning women's rights movement in Iran. A court also sentenced the family's legal representative to a year in prison for <propaganda activity> against the Islamic Republic in October. Attempts by the family to retrieve their passports proved futile on Saturday afternoon. The Aminis were informed that the documents would only be returned if the travel ban was not extended after the specified January 20, 2024 date. <Our intention for the trip was solely to attend the award ceremony, and we had purchased return tickets, demonstrating our genuine and lawful purposes. Nevertheless, our travel was unjustly halted,> the Aminis said. <We question why, according to the law, we are subjected to a travel ban without judicial authority. And if such authority exists then why has the order not been communicated to us? Why have we been left unaware of the alleged crime for which we are being restricted?> the family said. After Mahsa Amini's death and the outbreak of nationwide protests, more than 500 people were killed in the ensuing crackdown by security forces and over 20,000 people were unlawfully detained, including dozens of lawyers. Following biased trials, the judiciary has handed down stiff sentences including the death penalty to protesters. The Islamic Republic has so far executed at least eight young protesters. <We know that our only 'crime' is being the family of Jina Mahsa Amini,> the family said in its statement.>>
Source:
https://iranwire.com/en/news/123350-mahsa-aminis-family-decries-travel-ban-on-eve-of-human-rights-award-ceremony/

Iranwire - 9 Dec 2023
<<Mahsa Amini's Family Barred from Leaving Iran to Accept Human Rights Prize
The Islamic Republic's authorities have barred the family of Mahsa Amini from leaving Iran to attend a ceremony in France, where she is to be honored with the prestigious Sakharov Prize, IranWire reports. Hours before Amini's family was set to depart for France on December 8, authorities at Imam Khomeini International Airport prevented them from boarding their flight. Authorities confiscated their passports and informed them that they were not authorized to leave the country, according to IranWire sources. Amini's family has been repeatedly questioned and security forces violently clashed with Mahsa'a brother, Kiarash, on previous occasions. He suffered injuries in the clashes. Their lawyer, Saleh Nikbakht, was en route to France to accept the prize Friday evening. Previously, Amjad Amini, Mahsa's father, said that <Jina's [Mahsa's] name has evolved into a symbol of freedom and equality worldwide.> Amini's family is now stranded in Iran and has been told to report to the passport office on Sunday for further questioning. The exact reasons behind this decision remain unclear, but it is widely believed to be a politically-motivated move aimed at silencing Amini's family and suppressing the burgeoning women's rights movement in Iran. An Iranian court sentenced the legal representative of the family to one year in prison for <propaganda activity> against the Islamic Republic in October. Branch 28 of the Islamic Revolution Court of Tehran also banned Saleh Nikbakht from online activities for two years. Nikbakht, 72, was put on trial over interviews he gave to domestic and foreign media, in which he criticized the government's handling of Mahsa Amini’s death and its aftermath. The 22-year-old Amini was arrested by the morality police for allegedly wearing the mandatory headscarf <improperly.> Her September 16, 2022 death in custody sparked months of nationwide protests. More than 500 people were killed in the clampdown by security forces and over 20,000 people were unlawfully detained, including dozens of lawyers. Following biased trials, the judiciary has handed down stiff sentences, including the death penalty, to protesters. The Islamic Republic authorities have so far executed at least eight young protesters.>>
Source:
https://iranwire.com/en/news/123332-mahsa-aminis-family-barred-from-leaving-iran-to-accept-human-rights-prize/

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