Above the Rhône, darkened by the night falling on the City of Light, rises “Baraye”, the Iranian song composed by Shervin Hajipour, which has become the anthem of the protest movement that is shaking an entire country.
Forty people gathered on the Gallieni bridge and sing this song in tribute to Mohammad Moradi.
This Iranian student was found dead here, two days earlier, in the waters of the river that crosses Lyon.
In a video, he explained that he wanted to kill himself to draw attention to Iran.
“I decided to commit suicide in the Rhone river, announced Mohammad Moradi.
It is a challenge to show that we, the Iranian people, are very tired of this situation.
When you watch this video, I will be dead.
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“Mohammad Moradi committed suicide to make the voice of revolution heard in Iran,” castigates Timothée Amini, spokesperson for the Iranian community in Lyon during the rally.
Mohammad Moradi had been living in France for three years with his wife.
He was studying history and worked in a restaurant.
The Lyon prosecutor's office announced that it had "conducted an investigation into the causes of death, in order to verify the hypothesis of a suicide".
Iran is rocked by major protests against the regime.
A protest movement started more than three months ago following the death of a young Iranian Kurd after being arrested by the morality police.
The movement is harshly repressed by the Islamic regime in power and numerous death sentences have been pronounced against demonstrators.