40th Memorial for Armita Garavand Held in a Security Atmosphere at Behesht Zahra; At Least One Citizen Arrested

The memorial ceremony for the 40th day since the death of Armita Garavand, a teenager who fell into a coma after being pushed by a morality police officer at a metro station in Tehran, was held with a heavy presence of government agents. Human rights and news sources reported on Wednesday, December 6, that during the memorial for Armita Garavand, a 16-year-old student opposed to mandatory hijab, at least one protesting citizen named Ariana Akbari was arrested. According to HRANA, the news agency of human rights activists in Iran, government forces arrested this Tehran resident on Wednesday, December 6, after she attended the memorial and took her to an undisclosed location. The deployment of government forces in Behesht Zahra coincided with the memorial ceremony for Armita Garavand. According to the report, Ariana Akbari had previously been arrested during the nationwide protests of 2022. During Armita Garavand's hospitalization in a military hospital in Tehran, extensive restrictions were placed on journalists contacting her family and reporting from the Fajr Hospital of the Air Force, with information only being released through government sources. In this context, the report of the memorial ceremony for Armita Garavand was also published by the government news agency IRNA as part of this trend. Independent sources reported that the ceremony was held with a small number of Garavand's family members present in a 'security atmosphere' with the presence of government forces, including plainclothes agents. In recent days, Ava Garavand, Armita's sister, announced the holding of her memorial on the afternoon of Wednesday, December 6, in section 99 of Behesht Zahra in Tehran. She shared a picture of Armita painting and wrote: 'One day Armita went out with her beautiful hair down, and my dad said, 'Armita, please be careful, I'm worried about you.' Armita replied, 'Dad, the day will come when you will be proud of my hair!' Ava Garavand also stated: 'Armita, my heart, that day has come! And today is the day we are proud of you.' Armita Garavand, a 16-year-old girl, was attacked by a 'morality enforcer' at the 'Shahada Square' metro station in Tehran on the morning of October 1, 2023, while heading to school for not wearing a hijab and adhering to the mandatory government dress code. She was pushed, causing her head to hit the edge of the train's exit door, and she fell into a coma. The British newspaper 'The Guardian' published statements from two witnesses on October 5, who said that as soon as Armita entered the metro car, a woman enforcing the hijab began to argue with her because Armita, the 16-year-old girl, was not wearing a headscarf. One witness told the newspaper that when Armita fell, she was still conscious. Previously, Abram Paley, the U.S. Deputy Special Envoy for Iran, reacted to Armita Garavand's death, stating, 'The state-sponsored violence against women and girls in Iran has been devastating for many families inside and outside Iran.'