Illustration by Gianluca Costantini

Mahsa Amini: Women's social media posts risking punishment in Iran

BBC: Women in Iran have told the BBC how their online activity has been spied on by the authorities, leading to arrests, threats and beatings.

Iran stepped up surveillance following nationwide women-led anti-establishment protests, after the death in police custody two years ago of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who was arrested for allegedly not wearing her hijab properly.

Warning: The following article contains descriptions of violence. Some names have been changed to protect individuals’ identities.

Like many of the women inspired by the protests, Alef posted a photo on social media revealing her hair flowing freely in public. It was a simple act of solidarity with the movement against the forced wearing of the hijab.

“I didn’t really care enough to hide who I am or where the photo was taken,” she said. “I wanted to say, ‘we exist’.”

But the picture was seen by the authorities, which were trying to crush the protests, and Alef was arrested.

She says she was blindfolded, handcuffed and taken to an unknown location where she remained in solitary confinement for nearly two weeks. She was also interrogated multiple times.

In one interrogation, she says her inquisitors tried to force a confession out of her. She was made to hand over her phone to masked guards, who went through her social media posts and photos. Pictures showed she had participated in protests and that she had been shot at by security forces with pellet guns. Her interrogators also accused her of working for the US.

Alef was charged with, amongst other things, “appearing in public without a hijab” and “promotion of corruption and fornication”.

She was found guilty and although she was given a suspended sentence, she also received 50 lashes.

“A male officer told me to take off my coat and lie down,” she said. “He was holding a black leather whip and started hitting me all over my body. It was very painful but I didn’t want to show weakness.”

Her story was similar to that of two other women and one man we spoke to in Iran. Each told us they were detained and summoned to court for committing “propaganda against the state.” They all received suspended prison sentences. Alef received both a suspended prison sentence and lashes.

Jail time

Two of the people we spoke to were held at Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison - known for housing many of Iran’s political prisoners - before being tried and convicted.

Both described poor living conditions in which prisoners were crammed into small, unsanitary and cold cells, with limited access to a shower and toilet, which often led to people falling ill.

A prominent male influencer who was detained for just under a month told us that in his block there was only one shower and one toilet for approximately 100 people.

A woman, Maral, who was jailed for more than two months, said that where she was held the women could only shower once or twice a week. It was particularly tough when they had periods.

“Sometimes they wouldn’t let us go to the toilet for hours,” she said. “If we complained they would say ‘if you co-operate you can leave sooner’. We couldn’t get our hands on period pads. We had to buy them but we had no money, nor would they take money from our family.”

Kosar Eftekhari also had her social media combed through. She was arrested and charged with offences including “propaganda against the state”, “insulting sacred beliefs", “disturbing public opinion”, and “blasphemy”.

One month after Mahsa Amini’s death, Kosar was shot at in her genital area by a riot squad officer with a paintball gun. Moments later he shot her again, this time in the eye “with a smirk on his face”. She instantly heard her right eye “pop” and went blind.

The shocking incident was filmed and posted on Instagram. Despite her injuries and trauma, Kosar became more active online, making her a prime target for heightened surveillance >>>