Iran: School authorities conduct physical searches on female students

Enlarge image

Protests in Tehran on October 20

Photo Credit: IMAGO/Stringer / IMAGO/ZUMA Wire

Authorities at a girls' school in Tehran are said to have beaten up students and conducted a physical search.

"Students at the Shahid Sadr Girls' School in Tehran were attacked, strip searched and beaten," said the activist group 1500tasvir, which regularly reports on the protests and police violence in Iran, according to the AFP news agency.

At least one schoolgirl has been hospitalized, according to 1500tasvir.

According to media reports, the school authorities wanted to check whether the students had brought cell phones to school, which is forbidden in Iran.

The girls' parents later protested in front of the school and are said to have been attacked by security officials with tear gas, reports the Reuters news agency.

Videos have been posted on social media claiming to document the chaos at the school.

The incident sparked further student protests on Tuesday.

"A student may die, but he will not accept humiliation," chanted students at Shahid Chamran University in Ahvas in the south-west of the country in an online video verified by AFP news agency.

Other online videos showed protesters at Beheshti University and Chaje Nasir Toosi University in Tehran.

Government spokesman booed again

In the religious stronghold of Qom, students booed a government spokesman.

During the visit of government spokesman Ali Bahadori Jahromi to a university, the students chanted, as the Iranian newspaper "Hammihan" reported on Tuesday.

The slogan "Woman, life, freedom" was also called out.

The city of Qom, south of the capital Tehran, is considered the Shia center of Iran's religious elite.

Jahromi had already been booed by students in Tehran on Tuesday.

The system-critical protests in Iran were triggered by the death of the 22-year-old Iranian Kurd Mahsa Amini.

The morality police had arrested her for allegedly violating Islamic dress codes.

The woman died in police custody on September 16.

Since her death, thousands have been demonstrating across the country against the government's repressive course and the Islamic system of rule.

According to human rights activists, tens of thousands of people were arrested and at least 250 killed.

Demonstrators call for further protests

Almost 40 days after Amini's death, demonstrators have called for further protests.

"It is not a time for mourning, but for anger," said a protest call for Wednesday shared online.

In Shia Iran, the traditional mourning period for the death of a family member is 40 days.

The security authorities are therefore now preparing for nationwide protests.

So far they have violently suppressed the demonstrations.

However, observers expect crowds on the streets again on Wednesday.

Iran's judiciary continues to take a hard line against participants in the demonstrations.

According to state media, hundreds of people have been charged in connection with the protests.

In Tehran, 315 demonstrators are to answer in court.

Four people are also accused of "war against God".

According to the Islamic legal system in Iran, they face the death penalty.

The judiciary has repeatedly emphasized in recent weeks that it will act mercilessly against the demonstrators.

President Ebrahim Raisi defended the tough government course at a media meeting.

He again accused the West of interfering in his country's internal affairs.

Raisi cited the role of the media abroad as one of the reasons.

Meanwhile, the Internet in Iran has been severely restricted for weeks.

Dozens of journalists were arrested during the protests.

The journalist Nilufar Hamedi from the reform newspaper »Shargh«, who was one of the first to publicize the Mahsa Amini case, is currently being held in the notorious Ewin prison in the capital Tehran.

col/AFP/dpa/Reuters