Iranian authorities treat opponents as mentally ill
Iranian authorities continue their repressive tactics against women, labeling a university student who protested Iran’s strict dress code as “a person with psychological issues” to delegitimize protests and silence opposing voices.
Iranian media reported that the young woman “suffers from a mental disorder and was transferred to a psychiatric hospital.”
A video circulating on social media last Saturday showed a university student at the Faculty of Sciences removing her outer clothing in protest after being harassed by members of the so-called “morality police,” who claimed she was not wearing her hijab properly.
Eyewitnesses reported that she was harassed by security personnel at the university because of her attire, and another video showed officers forcibly attempting to push her into a vehicle.
The Iranian student website “Amir Kabir” confirmed that the young woman “was beaten during her arrest,” as evidence of the repression and pressures faced by women in a country ruled by dictatorship for decades, according to activists.
After three days of silence from the authorities, Iranian government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajarani told the reformist newspaper “Ham Mihan” on Tuesday that the student from the Faculty of Science and Research at Azad University in Tehran “was taken directly from the police station to treatment centers.”
She added, “There is no security view of this case, but a social one, and we are trying to address this student's issue as a person with psychological problems.”
An Iranian human rights organization based in Oslo, Norway, condemned what it called “the use of hospitals as tools of repression to delegitimize protests and silence opposition voices.”
Amnesty International also called for the young woman’s “immediate” release on Sunday, adding, “Authorities must protect her from torture and mistreatment and ensure she has access to her family and lawyer.”
Iranian researcher and civil activist Sadeqeh Waismeqi condemned sending the university student protesting Iran’s strict dress code to a psychiatric institution.
Waismeqi described the action as “illegal,” telling Radio Free Europe, “Even if someone has psychological disorders, it is not for the judicial authorities or the police to diagnose, and sending someone to a psychiatric facility should not be used as a punishment.”
She said Iranian authorities have a long-standing record of sending protesters to hospitals and psychiatric institutions “to demean and punish them,” emphasizing that women in Iran “have made up their minds and will not retreat from demanding the freedom to choose how they dress.”
She added, “Authorities should accept this reality and stop actions that increase tensions in society.”
Many students have noted that control over women and young women in Iran extends to the smallest details. For example, if a female student speaks to a young man on campus, both may be detained and questioned to determine the nature of their relationship.
Observers view this girl’s actions as part of ongoing women’s and popular protests against the repressive authorities, proving that the regime has failed and will continue to fail in imposing its control over women in particular and over the Iranian people in general, especially after the “Jin, Jiyan, Azadi” uprising sparked by the death of Kurdish young woman Jina Amini at the hands of the “morality police” in mid-September 2022, which provoked popular and international reactions.
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