Body Searches of Women by Plainclothes Forces - 2003-06-21

Plainclothes forces conducted body searches of women passing through North Kargar Street. According to Amir Kabir News, starting from 11:30 PM last night (Friday), plainclothes forces were body searching all pedestrians intending to pass in front of Laleh Park and inspecting the contents of their bags. This action was carried out without any authorization or identification cards presented by the plainclothes officers. Eyewitnesses reported that women passing through North Kargar Street were subjected to body searches, prompting protests from women. Reuters reported on the events of last night, citing a photographer on the scene who stated that plainclothes forces 'pulled people out of their cars and beat them with clubs and fists, and even young girls were not spared from their assaults.' It is noteworthy that filming had been conducted from the dormitories of both male and female students since the beginning of the night. Following several nights of protests, early on Friday morning, Shahid Beheshti University also experienced unrest. According to Yas-e-No newspaper, female dormitory residents at this university, while keeping their dorm lights off, chanted 'Oh people of Velenjak, support us.' As protests escalated, riot police and plainclothes forces were also deployed to the area. However, protests continued. At this time, the throwing of tear gas towards the female dormitory led to students setting fire to newspapers and paper and throwing them out of the dormitory windows. According to the Associated Press, on the first night of clashes between students and pressure groups, 200 female students shouted their protests in the form of slogans from behind the bars of the dormitory.