Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau marched Saturday with protesters gathered in the capital, Ottawa, in support of the protest movement that has rocked Iran for more than 40 days.
“
We will continue in our fight for a better future, for everyone across the planet, especially the women in Iran who have suffered
,” Justin Trudeau told reporters, speaking in front of a white banner covered with dozens of red handprints.
"
We are there in solidarity with you and we will continue to be so
," he added before ending his speech by pronouncing Iranian slogans, his fist raised, to the cheers of the crowd.
At his side, his wife, Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, explained to be present because "the freedom of a woman is the freedom of all women".
The head of the Canadian government recalled having announced several salvoes of sanctions against dozens of senior officials of the Iranian regime in the past month in response to its “
systematic violations of human rights
” during the demonstrations which shake the country.
The protest, led in particular by women, has not weakened since the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurd, on September 16.
Mahsa Amini died three days after she was arrested in Tehran by morality police who accused her of breaking the Islamic Republic's strict dress code.
Rallies were organized in other Canadian cities, from one end of the country to the other, in particular in Vancouver, Montreal, Winnipeg or Toronto where demonstrators formed human chains.
Also abroad, thousands of people gathered on Saturday in Paris and other French cities.