Mahsa Amini death: Pakistani media observes blackout as protests spread in Iran
Pakistani media observed a blackout as protests further spread in Iran on fifth consecutive day following the death of Mahsa Amini
Pakistani media observed a blackout as protests further spread in Iran on fifth consecutive day following the death of a woman, Mahsa Amini, by morality police for allegedly not properly having a headscarf.
A Pakistani journalist wrote on Twitter, “Taliban: Iran edition! Women in my end of the world (Afghanistan and Iran) are fighting alone.”
Taliban: Iran edition!
Women in my end of the world (Afghanistan and Iran) are fighting alone.
pic.twitter.com/hD19REAIdR— Nilofar Ayoubi (@NilofarAyoubi) September 21, 2022
This is Tehran University, students joined the protest against the murdering of #MahsaAmini by hijab police and chanting:
Woman, life, Freedom
Iranians are outraged. Yesterday the security forces opened fire at protesters in Saghez city but now Tehran joined the protest. pic.twitter.com/Bf9jcwWICB— Masih Alinejad 🏳️ (@AlinejadMasih) September 18, 2022
Fresh restrictions were placed on social media as Iranian authorities blocked access to WhatsApp and Instagram, whereas, the total death toll rose to eight including a member of the police and a pro-government militia member, Reuters reported.
The demonstrations erupted over the death in detention last week of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old from Iranian Kurdistan who was arrested in Tehran for “unsuitable attire”.
The protests, which were concentrated in Iran’s Kurdish-populated northwestern regions but have spread to at least 50 cities and towns nationwide, are the largest since a wave of demonstrations in 2019 over gasoline price rises.
Reports from Kurdish rights group Hengaw, which Reuters could not verify, said 10 protesters had been killed. Three died on Wednesday, adding to the seven people the group said had been killed by security forces.
Officials have denied that security forces have killed protesters, suggesting they may have been shot by armed dissidents.
With no sign of the protests easing, authorities restricted access to the internet, according to accounts from Hengaw, residents, and internet shutdown observatory NetBlocks.
NetBlocks and residents said access had been restricted to Instagram – the only major social media platform that Iran usually allows and which has millions of users – and that some mobile phone networks had been shut down.
WhatsApp users said they could only send text, not pictures, while Hengaw said access to the internet had been cut in Kurdistan province – moves that would hinder videos being shared from a region where the authorities have previously suppressed unrest by the Kurdish minority.
