Iran: Hadis Najafi, 20, shot dead during a demonstration, another symbol of repression

Drawing depicting Mahsa Amini during a demonstration after her death, outside the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany, September 23, 2022. © REUTERS/Christian Mang

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2 mins

New demonstrations took place again on Sunday, September 25 in Tehran, Shiraz, Tabriz.

And the announcement of the death of Hadis Najafi, killed by six bullets, caused a new wave of emotion in Iran in the streets.

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For the tenth consecutive day, the anger of Iranian men and women has been heard in many cities of the country despite the repression which has already caused the death of 41 people, according to the authorities, 54 according to an NGO based outside Iran .

towards those he called the "

".

Triggered after the death of Mahsa Amini, who died after her arrest by the morality police, it was another young woman who became the face of this protest movement: Hadis Najafi.

This young Iranian woman was shot in the street.

In a short video posted on social networks last week, Hadis Najafi appears from behind, tying her hair, in the middle of the street, at night, while a group of people in front of her seemed to block the road.

The young woman was not wearing a veil and showed discolored blond hair.

While tying her hair, she takes a few steps in the direction of the protesters to join them.

Iranian women prepare for another night on the streets.

The struggle continues !

#MahsaAmini #Iran pic.twitter.com/2lF5DtvYVQ

— Farid Vahid (@FaridVahiid) September 24, 2022

In this video shot Thursday, September 22 in Karaj, a few dozen kilometers west of Tehran, Hadis Najafi only shows himself from behind.

His face is never revealed to the camera.

His gesture, anonymous, therefore symbolizes that of all these Iranian women who took to the streets after the death of Mahsa Amini, arrested for having revealed a lock of hair under her scarf.

Hadis Najafi only became a name and a face of this protest movement this Sunday, September 25.

An Iranian journalist and activist living in exile announced the death of the young woman the evening the video was shot.

Hadis Najafi received six bullets, hit in the chest, neck and head.

She was 20 years old.

And his name is now associated with that of Mahsa Amini.

► To read also: Iran: behind the death of Mahsa Amini, the uprising of a people

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