BERLIN, Oct. 9 (DPA/EP) –
The German Foreign Minister, Annalena Baerbock, has harshly criticized the Iranian government this Sunday for its response to the protests against the death in custody of the young Mahsa Amini for wearing the veil incorrectly and has called for the imposition of sanctions against the country for this reason.
“Anyone who beats up women and girls in the streets, who kidnaps people who want nothing more than to live freely, who arbitrarily detains them, who sentences them to death, is on the wrong side of history,” the minister declared. in declarations to the ‘Bild am Sonntag’.
Baerbock has declared that the European Union will ban entry to those responsible for the repression of the protests and freeze their assets, adding that the calls of the people in the streets of Iran in favor of self-determination are “deafening”.
The protests against the Islamic system enter their fourth week. They began after the death of Amini, 22, in mid-September, after she was detained by Iranian morality police for her alleged “un-Islamic dress”.
It is unclear what happened to Amini afterwards. The woman slipped into a coma and died in hospital on September 16. While critics believe police brutality is to blame, authorities insist the young woman died of heart failure.
In recent days, the protest movement is intensifying across the country in the form of civil disobedience as Iranian security forces tighten their policy of repression.
NGOs such as Iran Human Rights estimate that more than 180 people, including 19 children, have already died due to the violent response of the security forces, according to their latest balance published this past Saturday.
