Italy, in suspense over Alessia’s arrest when she was celebrating her birthday in Tehran: her last photo

Italy is still immersed in the formation of a government, but the front pages of its main newspapers open their digital editions this Monday with the photograph and the story of a young Roman woman, Alessia Piperno. She was arrested on Friday in Tehran when she was celebrating her 30th birthday. Her parents have not been able to talk to her until a few hours ago: “Please help me,” she has begged them. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is working on her release.

Alessia is a traveler, a nomad. She arrived in Iran in July after having lived in Australia, Mexico, India, Pakistan, Morocco, Honduras, Guatemala, Sri Lanka, El Salvador and Panama. Now her world is reduced to the four walls of a cell. The facts that led to her are unknown or at least do not justify it: she was together with nine other people celebrating her birthday, a group of French, Polish, Swedish and Dutch friends, it is assumed that they are in a place where they should not be .

The last image on social networks of Alessia is precisely from this celebration, with a cake and balloons. Everyone who appears in it was arrested.

His father, Alberto Pipernohas expressed her disbelief on her Facebook account: “My daughter is a solitary traveler, she travels the world to learn about the uses and customs of peoples. She has always adapted to and respected the traditions and, in some cases, the obligations of each country she was visiting. We hadn’t heard from her since the day she turned 30. It was she who, crying, told us she was in jail. (…) It was just a few words but desperate. She was asking for help.”

“Now more than ever: freedom”

Alessia’s parents do not know the reason for the imprisonment. They are aware of the complicated days that Iran is going through after the death of Masha Amin at the hands of the ‘morality police’ for not wearing the veil properly. Dozens have died in the streets in demonstrations against this crime and women lose their fear of breaking the strict and sexist codes of conduct and dress. They are convinced that “she is supportive”, but also that she has not participated in protests that could get her into trouble far from home.

[Vienna Cammarota, la abuela italiana de 72 años que recorrerá 22.000 kilómetros a pie por la paz]

The truth is that days before her arrest, in the midst of a wave of marches against the regime, Alessia made reference to the anti-fascist anthem ‘Bella ciao’ on her Instagram account and said: “I can’t get out of here, now more than ever: freedom “. The indictment points to her birthday party as the reason for her arrest, and it took place in a quiet area away from the altercations.

In that last image of her birthday, the young woman takes stock of her years with a backpack in tow: “In a few days my seventh year on the road will begin. (…) It seems like yesterday when I carried my first backpack on my shoulders to get to the land of my dreams, Australia. At that time I had just turned 24, and today I am 30. I promised myself that at this age I would have stopped and now I have reached this day I ask myself: “Am I ready to stop ?”.