Iran is being accused of horrific abuse of protesters behind closed doors. However the state media only reports on this “evidence” of abuse when it suits the government.
It has been claimed that “at least 1,100 people have been arrested in clashes with police over the last 12 days, mainly members of Iran’s main opposition leaders”. However, according to independent human rights monitors, no more than 70 people have been arrested in protests – though this figure includes “thousands” of other protesters.
While many Iranians have been arrested in the protests, and reports of this figure are likely to be an exaggeration, the state media has only reported the figure when it suited it. Despite all of this, one of the largest protests yet in Iran has now been broken up, with a series of arrests and detentions.
One police station has been attacked by “thousands” of protesters and their supporters, with demonstrators smashing windows and setting other offices on fire. In response to this, Iranian police deployed more security forces to their office complexes in the cities across the nation, a further sign of the police’s increasing fear of the demonstrators.
The state-run TV channel has broadcast a series of videos showing Iranians protesting over their “lost” rights against their own government. These include women dancing semi-nude to traditional songs, and chanting through a bullhorn: “Death to the dictator, death to the puppet government! Long live the youth of Iran!”.
The Guardian reports:
Among the protest’s many slogans, one caught my eye. “Death to the dictator, death to the puppet government! Long live the youth of Iran!”. That was followed by a call to “die, die, die, death, death”. A number of protesters also said “Allahu Akbar” (“Allah is great”) and “Death to the dictator”, according to a witness who also says that he saw a protester die on the spot during a clash with police and paramedics. “They’ve killed a protester here!” he said. “They’ve killed a protester here”. “They are killing protesters here.” The video shows protesters chanting the slogan in English and Arabic, with the bullhorn often being used as an amplifier. In the video, the protesters show no signs of fear for their safety. At one point, police are shown confronting a group of protesters. A small group of protesters attempt to push them back