Iran Still Trying to Suppress the Truth

The family of Mahsa Amini have been banned from flying to France to collect a top human rights prize in her honor.  Amini's parents and brother were stopped from boarding their flight and had their passports confiscated, according to reports. They were traveling to Strasbourg to be presented with the EU's Sakharov Prize - which has been awarded posthumously to Amini.   The family was banned from leaving despite having valid visas.   Speaking to reporters, the family's lawyer, Chirinne Ardakani, said Ms Amini's mother, father and brother had been "prohibited from boarding the flight that was to take them to France for the presentation of the Sakharov Prize".

Mahsa Amini's death last year sparked protests across Iran unlike any the country had seen before.  She died in the hospital in Tehran on September 16, 2022, three days after she was detained by morality police in the capital for allegedly violating Iran's strict rules requiring women to cover their hair with a hijab, or headscarf.  Witnesses said the 22-year-old Kurd was beaten while in custody, but authorities  tried to deny she was mistreated and claimed that "sudden heart failure" was the cause of her death.

The family's lawyer said the Iranian authorities "have never been so mobilized to prevent the families of the victims from speaking to the international community".   In September, on the anniversary of his daughter's death, Amini's father Amjad was detained by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and warned against marking the anniversary of his daughter's death, according to human rights groups. Thousands of people around the world did mark the anniversary, taking to the streets in mass protests.  Amini's father was later released.

In October, the European Union announced it was posthumously awarding its top rights prize to Ms Amini and the global "Woman, Life, Freedom" movement that her death triggered.  The president of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, called on Iran to "retract the decision" to ban the family from traveling.   "Their place next Tuesday is at the European Parliament in Strasbourg to receive the Sakharov Prize, with the brave women of Iran," she said on social media. "The truth cannot be silenced."