“Respect to the brave, defiant, fearless women of Iran,” Jolie began in a social media post that featured a couple of images of the demonstrations that have swarmed major cities.
“All those who have survived and resisted for decades, those taking to the streets today, and Mahsa Amini and all young Iranians like her. Women don’t need their morals policed, their minds re-educated, or their bodies controlled. They need freedom to live and breathe without violence or threats,” she wrote.
Besides the photos of the protest, Jolie also tried to use her social media handle to spread awareness about the protest in a note that read, “Protests in Iran are in their 12th consecutive night. They started in response to the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini while in morality police custody. Since the protest began, riot police have attacked protestors with brutal force, and more than 70 people have reportedly been killed.”
“To the women of Iran, we see you,” she concluded.
According to the latest reports, Iran is imposing increasingly severe restrictions on access to the internet, albeit still short of a total shutdown, in an apparent bid to limit the sharing of footage of protests which have erupted nationwide, activists claim.
Mahsa Amini’s parents, on the other hand, have gone the legal route and have filed a complaint against the police who arrested their daughter for allegedly breaching Iran’s strict dress code before she died in custody.
Amini, 22, died in a Tehran hospital three days after her arrest by the morality police.
The family has requested “a thorough investigation” into the arrest and the events that led to Amini’s hospitalisation, the family’s lawyer said, urging authorities to release “all videos and photographs” showing her in custody.
The lawyer said the head of the prosecutor’s office “promised the case would be handled carefully and that all our requests would be taken into account”, and that “a medical team appointed by Mahsa Amini’s family would be informed” of any developments in the investigation.
