Account of a 'Kidnapping Witness' on Mahsa's Anniversary; Zahra Shafiei: Officers Tied My Hands from Behind and Beat Me

A filmmaker and civil activist imprisoned in Qarchak prison described her arrest and observations of 'kidnapping and abduction' on the afternoon of September 16, the anniversary of Mahsa Amini's death. Zahra Shafiei Dehghani, the detained filmmaker, stated in an audio file released on social media on October 3, 'I witnessed the kidnapping and abduction on September 16, 2023, at 6 PM.' She explained, 'When I got off the Vali Asr metro, the street was strangely empty, and there were no officers at all. While I was walking towards Azadi Street, several elderly individuals warned me that officers were standing ahead and were arresting everyone.' Zahra Shafiei added that at the corner of 'French Pastry' street, a large number of women dressed in 'black chadors, military uniforms, and black masks' were standing alongside numerous men in 'military uniforms without names' and 'plainclothes individuals in black shirts and pants.' The detained filmmaker recounted her arrest, saying, 'As soon as I crossed the street, one of their women grabbed my hand and twisted it from behind. I asked her what right she had to twist my hand and why she was doing this,' to which she 'started cursing and beating me in a way that was unbelievable and provided no explanation.' According to her account, the repressive forces present wore masks so that if filmed, it wouldn't be clear that they were cursing. Zahra Shafiei added, 'They were hitting me very hard and in a strange way. They had tied my hands from behind and were hitting me in the head and face. One of the women lifted her leg and hit me hard in the back, and then their plainclothes men came and pushed me into a van. A lot of girls and boys were arrested, and the girls, all wearing hijabs and manteaus, were sitting and crying, asking what they had done to be treated this way, and when the boys tried to defend the girls, they were beaten in the van.' This imprisoned filmmaker stated that before being sent to prison, she was taken to the 'Emergency Police Center,' where she reported that more than 500 individuals were detained. She said, 'They were hitting them with batons and cursing at them, and the officers showed their batons and used vulgar language, saying they would use these batons to make them disappear, and before being sent to prison, they threatened them not to say they had been beaten or harmed because prison officials would not accept them and would send them back to the emergency police.' In another part of her account, she described how government agents forced young women and girls to wear hijabs through humiliation and insults, saying, 'When they reached me, they told me to put on my scarf. I said I wouldn't. They insisted I had to. I said I wouldn't. I was wearing a vest over my clothes. They told me to pull my vest over my head. I said I wouldn't. They said it had to be! I resisted. They said to pull my bag over my head. I resisted and said I wouldn't. They started kicking me to force me. I said I came out like this because of you. All this theft, embezzlement, only you have been put in front.' Before her arrest on September 16, the anniversary of Mahsa Amini's death, Zahra Shafiei had stated in a video message that the Islamic Republic could no longer stand tall and was broken, saying, 'Neither I nor the children of this homeland are afraid.' Saeed Dehghan, a lawyer, reacted to Zahra Shafiei's arrest, describing the situation in her account as 'effectively establishing an unofficial and illegal martial law.' According to this human rights defender, Zahra Shafiei Dehghani also spoke in her initial contacts about 'the violent and completely abduction-like nature of her arrest, psychological and humiliating tests with unknown and different questions, high stress and panic attacks of detainees, and facing threats from interrogators due to refusing to comply with mandatory hijab, and being dictated initial conversations during her last contact.' Previous reports indicated that 'hundreds of individuals,' including several artists, were arrested during the anniversary of Mahsa Amini's death amid the patrols and nationwide protests in Iran.