Thousands have descended on London’s Trafalgar Square to take a stand in solidarity with anti-government demonstrations in Iran as protests in the Middle Eastern nation enter their 115th day.
Demonstrators gathered at midday by Marble Arch to begin their march toward the iconic square, where speeches from a variety of eminent activists, including Nobel Peace Prize-winning Iranian lawyer Shirin Ebadi, are being staged.
Also taking to the podium this afternoon are activist Elika Ashoori, daughter of former British hostage Anoosheh Ashoori, and Amnesty International UK chief executive Sacha Deshmukh.
Mr Ashoori was detained in Iran’s notorious Evin prison in August 2017 while in the country to visit his mother on charges of espionage and acquisition of “illegitimate wealth”, which he vehemently denies. He was released and taken back to the UK alongside Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe in March last year.
Organisers have set up a stage beside Nelson’s Column, and have draped it in Iranian flags in anticipation of the speeches.
Attendees were seen laughing and smiling despite the heavy rain, waving the country’s flag emblazoned with the slogan “Freedom for Iran.” Others held banners with the faces of protesters killed by the regime, which read: “What crime were we killed for?”
Chants made popular during the protests in Iran also rang out through the streets of central London, including “woman life freedom” and “justice for Iran.”
Amnesty International say the event, organised by Iran campaign groups Voice of Iran and Justice Prevails, will mark the 115th day of nationwide ‘Woman, Life, Freedom’ protests in Iran, as well as three years since the shooting down of a passenger jet (flight PS752) over Tehran.
Demonstrations against the Iranian government erupted in September following the death in custody of a 22-year-old Kurdish woman detained by morality police for allegedly wearing her hijab, or headscarf, “improperly”.
More than 500 protestors, including 70 children, are believed to have been killed so far in the unrest, and 19,262 others have been arrested, according to the foreign-based Human Rights Activists’ News Agency.
Reports suggest that many of those who have been detained after protests, described by Iran’s authorities as “riots” have been subjected to enforced disappearance, incommunicado detention, torture, and other maltreatment.
Amnesty says it is “demanding that the Iranian Embassy in the UK supports independent investigations into the deaths and mass arbitrary detention of civilians in Iran, as well as the repeal of harsh discriminatory laws that impose compulsory veiling on women and girls in the country.”
Sunday’s rally comes ahead of a Commons debate on 12 January on the situation in Iran and the treatment of protesters.
