'Woman. Life. Freedom': Paris marches in solidarity with Iran protests

Thousands of people marched in Paris on Sunday to condemn Iran's Islamic leadership in a giant show of solidarity with the protests sparked by the death in custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini for allegedly failing to appropriately wear the obligatory Muslim veil.

Following major rallies in key diaspora cities including Los Angeles and Toronto over the weekend, a stream of people walked from the French capital's traditional protest hub of Place de la Republique to Place de la Nation.

Protestors carried banners with "Join the first feminist revolution!" and "Mahsa Amini your name has made the tyranny of the ayatollahs shake!".

They chanted "down with the Islamic republic!", "death to the dictator", as well as "Woman. Life. Freedom" – three words that have become the main slogan of the protests in Iran.

They also sang along to "Baraye" ("For") which Iranian songwriter Shervin Hajipour put together using Twitter postings about the demonstrations.

Hajipour has now been arrested in a symbol of the strength of the Iranian leaders' crackdown on dissent.

Women-led revolution

Despite the crackdown, which according to the Iran Human Rights (IHR) group has left 92 dead and severe cuts to the internet, protests are continuing daily in Iran – with young women at the forefront.

"We weren't expecting that after the Islamic revolution 40 years ago, we'd be living through a woman-led revolution," said Azad, an Iranian living in exile in Paris. "That's what's so extraordinary and powerful."

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Many welcomed the leading role women are playing in the protest movement.

"It's different this time round because women have decided to go onto the streets and demand their freedom," 37-year-old Sagar, a French-Iranian women, told RFI.

"We don't know what will happen in the next few weeks, but there will be change of course. When I see men defending women, for me it's a revolution. We didn't have that before."

Guilda Torabi, a student of Iranian origin in Paris, said that given the dangers of protesting in Iran, the diaspora had a role to play.

"They go out to protest, but they get killed. We are lucky to be able to demonstrate and fight for them. So we will keep on coming," she said.

Toura Dana, a French-Iranian engineer, added: "Now we have become the voice of the Iranian people who are cut off. Now Iran has become one big prison."

A federating cause

Iranian-born Mathieu said seeing such a diverse diaspora rally around a common cause is a strong symbol.

"The revolution divided people, but being surrounded by royalist flags, republicans, and people from the far left, seeing them coming together is good news," he said.

Prominent figures of the French left – including Socialist leader Olivier Faure, Greens figure Sandrine Rousseau and far-left MEP Manon Aubry – addressed the crowd. 

Rousseau, who has defended the right for women in France to wear the Muslim hijab, was heckled during her speech – an indication of how divisive the issue of wearing the veil is in France.

Some protesters voiced anger that French President Emmanuel Macron had met Iranian counterpart Ebrahim Raisi in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly shortly after the death of Amini.

"The French government flirts with the mullahs while the mullahs kill women," read one slogan above an image of Macron shaking hands with Raisi.

President Raisi on Sunday again accused Iran's "enemies" of "conspiring" against the state and said their attempts had "failed".

Independent enquiry

Amnesty International France was among the organisers of Sunday's march.

Fanny Gallois, head of their "Liberté" programme, said they were working hard to get information on those killed, arrested or missing.

"We've counted at least 52 deaths, hundreds injured and thousands of arrests but we are struggling to get reliable information because of internet blackouts,” she said.

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Amnesty has evidence that the Iranian authorities have pressured families of victims into testifying against other demonstrators.

"They offered financial rewards to victims' families to record videos testifying against demonstrators for the deaths of their loved ones. Some accepted this money, others refused."

"A huge amount of information is circulating and we have to cross check everything, but it's extremely difficult to carry out this investigation – with media on the ground which is not independent and the independent press working abroad," she said.

Amnesty International France is calling on France and other members of the UN Human Rights Council to launch an independent enquiry into the crackdown in Iran.