Iranwire – Zahra Shafiei Dehaghani, an Iranian filmmaker arrested during protests last month marking the one-year anniversary of Mahsa Amini’s death, says she and fellow prisoners have been subject to “brutal” physical abuse by female security personnel.
In an audio message from Qarchak’s women prison, near Tehran, Dehaghani described her arrest in the capital on September 16.
“Female officers, donned in black cloaks, clad in black uniforms and wearing masks, detained me on [Tehran’s] Enghelab Street,” she said. “They used batons and physical force during the arrest. When I inquired about the reason for my arrest, they responded with more baton strikes and beatings.”
She said that security agents hit her with blows on her head and face while her hands were bound behind her back.
At one point, a female officer kicked her forcefully in the back, after which plain clothed men pushed her into a van along with other male and female protesters, many of whom were crying.
Shafiei described how government officials humiliated and insulted women and girls by forcing them to wear mandatory head coverings: “When they reached me, they demanded I wear a headscarf. I refused, they insisted, and I continued to resist. They even told me to place my bag on my head and one of them resorted to kicking me to compel me to obey.”
The filmmaker explained that she and other detainees were initially taken to a police station before being transferred to prison, where they were subjected to more beatings and were threatened not to publicize their ordeal.
Shafiei recounted that over 500 detainees were mistreated in such a brutal way.
“I declared that I had taken to the streets because of their actions and societal issues such as theft, corruption and rent-seeking,” the filmmaker said.
More than 500 people have been killed around the country in the authorities’ brutal crackdown on protests sparked by Amini’s death, with thousands more arrested.