Hundreds demonstrate in Paris for the rights of Iranian women

Paris – Hundreds of people marched through Paris on Sunday to support women's rights and the opposition in Iran, two years after the death of Mahsa Amini sparked protests against the country's religious authorities.

Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurdish woman, died in custody after being arrested for allegedly violating the Islamic Republic's strict dress code for women.

The march, organized by around 20 human rights groups, took place as 34 women began a hunger strike in a Tehran prison to commemorate the second anniversary of her death.

Chirinne Ardakani, a French-Iranian lawyer and member of the Iran Justice collective, said the “sacrifices” of Iran’s opponents of the regime were “not in vain”.

“Everything has changed in Iran,” Ardakani told AFP.

“We have gone from an absolutely patriarchal culture, where it was unthinkable for women to reveal themselves on the street, to massive support for these women,” added the lawyer and activist.

Demonstrators take part in a march to mark the second anniversary of a protest movement sparked by the death in custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who was arrested for allegedly violating the dress code for women at the Place de la Bastille in Paris on September 15, 2024.

Benjamin Briere and Louis Arnaud, two French nationals who were arrested and arbitrarily detained in Iran, took part in the solidarity march with the “Women, Life, Freedom” movement.

Iran is accused of arresting Western citizens without reason and using them as bargaining chips in interstate negotiations. French diplomats refer to these prisoners as “state hostages.”

Briere was eventually released in May 2023, while Arnaud was released the following month.

“Yes, I was in prison, but it is a great honor to have lived among you, the freedom fighters who shared my suffering,” Arnaud told the crowd in his first public address since his release.

Three other French citizens are still being held in Iran.

After Amini died in custody on September 16, 2022, women-led protests rocked the Iranian leadership in the fall and winter of that year.

However, the authorities repressed the demonstrations. The human rights organization Amnesty International stated that the security forces used assault rifles and shotguns in their crackdown.

Human rights groups estimate that at least 551 people have been killed, and the United Nations says thousands more have been arrested.