The parents of an Iranian woman who was shot dead while filming protests in her hometown have been subjected to an ongoing campaign of harassment by security forces, relatives told The Guardian.
Ghazaleh Chalabi, 33, was shot in the head in Amol on 27 September. A memorial service will be held on Thursday to mark the 40th day of her death, the end of the traditional Muslim period of mourning.
Her death was particularly shocking. A video of her protesting on her phone when she was shot was saved and uploaded to her social media outlets. Her last words were “Don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid.”
Chalabi’s aunt said in an interview that her niece was in a coma for five days before she died. “She was shot in the front,” her relative said. She “had a small hole in her forehead. The bullet had come out the back of her head, leaving a hole the size of a tangerine at the back of her head.”
Her parents were repeatedly harassed by security forces while Chalabi was in a coma, according to her aunt. Security forces also threatened to take retaliatory measures against Chalabi’s brother if her parents spoke up, and she would be martyred if she refused Chalabi’s request for her organ donation. She said it would look like someone
The intimidation is typical of intimidation tactics used by security forces trying to quell the protests that have dominated the country for weeks since Mahsa Amini’s death in police custody on September 16.
Protests posed one of the boldest challenges to Iran’s clerical leaders in decades, gaining momentum and seeking to blame Iran’s foreign enemies and their ‘agents’ for the unrest irritate the authorities.
At least 253 people, including 34 Iranians under the age of 18, were killed and thousands arrested, many transferred to special camps run by the feared Revolutionary Guard, according to a human rights group. .
On Tuesday, college students staged a sit-in strike in support of some protests, ignoring harsh warnings and bloody crackdowns by elite security forces.
Chalabi’s aunt said her niece did not regularly attend rallies and protests before Amini’s death, but “after that…she couldn’t keep quiet.”
On the night of her death, her aunt said, there was a fire in front of the governor’s building.
“Only minutes had passed since the fire had started when the first aerial shots were fired. [the security forces] I started shooting people directly,” said my aunt. “Several witnesses said she was shot from the roof of the governor’s building.
“According to a trusted doctor, three or four more people were shot at Amol and died soon after that night. Between 300 and 350 people were arrested that night.
“Many witnessed the moment Ghazaleh was shot.”
Some protesters called on Western governments to apply sanctions to police chiefs in local towns where verifiable killings occurred. There is some debate about the value of sanctions such as asset freezes and travel bans, as I have no intention of traveling.
Chalabi, who had a bachelor’s degree in banking, died on the eve of his 34th birthday. In his spare time, he liked mountaineering and searching for new novels. Her aunt said she loves her friends and is passionate about her life. Leaving behind her brother, her mother, who works for a cancer patient charity, and her father, a city worker.
In preparation for Thursday’s 40-day anniversary, the Ghazaleh brother wrote of his “beautiful sister.”
A close friend of the family said: She had sent a photo of herself no longer wearing her headscarf.
“In the last few days of her life, she was telling people about these protests all over the street. She encouraged everyone not to shut up. She was more fearless than ever in her life.” There was something in her eyes that made me want to show my courage and recreate it.
“There were a number of plainclothes officers at her burial, filming people to scare them. So far, intelligence agencies have subpoenaed her family and threatened them with phone calls.”
