Date published: 21/11/2024 – 16:10

2 minutes

Hossein Ronaghi said he sewed his lips together to protest the restrictions imposed by the authorities on the funeral of Kianoosh Sanjari, whose friends said he would commit suicide if political prisoners were not released.

The death of 42-year-old Sanjari, who returned to Iran less than a decade ago after a spell in the United States, shocked the activist community, which accused the Islamic republic of pushing him to take his own life after years of detention and persecution.

Ronaghi, a widely followed free speech advocate, began his protest on November 16, the day he said authorities prevented his friends and colleagues from attending a memorial service for Sanjari in Tehran.

Sanjari committed suicide on the night of November 14-15, hours after he posted a tweet on X stating that he would commit suicide if Iran did not release four prominent detainees considered by human rights groups to be political prisoners.

Ronaghi, who shared photos of her lips being stitched with blue thread, said that she would continue her protest until the prisoners Sanjari wanted to be released were released.

He has staged lone sit-ins in Tehran squares that have led to repeated arrests, but so far he has not been detained for more than a few hours.

“My decision is this: I will continue to sew my lips shut until Kianoosh’s wishes are fulfilled,” Ronaghi wrote on social media on Thursday.

“My protest with my lips sewn up is a political protest, and whether I am in prison or released from prison, or whether they lock me in my house and prevent the sit-in protest, the responsibility for this lies with the Islamic Republic.”

Ronaghi also accused the security personnel who arrested her earlier this week of sexually harassing and insulting her.

He said he felt increasingly weak and his lips were “swollen and sore” after receiving only water, tea and injections of medication, including antibiotics.

His action comes as Iranian activists come under pressure following nationwide protests in 2022-23 over the custodial death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurd who was arrested for allegedly violating the mandatory dress code. women.

Sanjari had demanded the release of veteran campaigner Fatemeh Sepehri, Nasreen Shakarami, the mother of a teenager killed during the 2022 protests, rapper Tomaj Salehi and civil rights activist Arsham Rezaei.

© 2024 AFP