Nika Shakarami was a 16-year-old girl and together with Mahsa Amini she became one of the symbols of women’s struggle in Iran. In the autumn of 2022 as street protests spread across the country, her name was shouted by crowds enraged against the strict veil rules. Nika’s end was tragic. The family found her body in a morgue more than a week after she disappeared during a protest. But Iranian authorities denied that her death was linked to the demonstration and, after conducting their own investigations, said she had committed suicide by jumping from a building.
Shortly before disappearing, Nika was filmed on the evening of September 20 near Laleh Park in central Tehran, standing on a dumpster while setting her hijab on fire. Others around her chanted “death to the dictator,” referring to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. However, Nika did not actually commit suicide, she was killed by the morality police. Nasrin’s mother was also sure of it. But now there is no doubt. The clarification is provided by a “highly confidential” document leaked by the same security forces that the BBC viewed.
In that hour that passes before the arrest, Nika hears Nele, a German friend, on the phone and already understands what would happen to her, she tells her “they’re looking for me, take care of yourself”. The police immediately afterward charged him into the car. They are the agents of Squad 12. Behind her, with her, are Arash Kalhor, Sadegh Monjazy and Behrooz Sadeghy. In front, team leader Morteza Jalil. In the BBC report we read that a guard, Sadeghy, says that in the van Nika shouts at her, she rebels: «Arash Kalhor gagged her mouth with his socks but she started to struggle. Then Sadegh (Monjazy) sat on her, but after a few minutes he started swearing. I couldn’t see anything, I only heard fighting and blows.” Kalhor says he saw Sadegh Monjazy “put his hand down her trousers”. Then she lost control. “I don’t know who was doing it, but I could hear the truncheon hitting the accused. I started kicking and punching but in reality I didn’t know if I was hitting our boys or Nika.” Monjazy denies putting his hand down her trousers, but he admits he got “excited” while he was sitting on her and touched her bottom. The boss then orders the driver to stop. He opens the back door and sees that Nika is dead. He wipes the blood from her head and face and abandons her battered body on the side of the road.
Now another young man could become a new innocent victim of the Ayatollah regime. His name is Toomaj Salehi, but he is known simply as Toomaj, and he is a rapper. He is 33 years old and a few days ago an Iranian court sentenced him to capital punishment. A retaliation for his music in support of the protests of the Donna, Vita, Libertà movement. The accusation is of “corruption on Earth”. An international campaign is trying to save him from death, including the Iranian-born cartoonist and director Marjane Satrapi and the actress Golshifteh Farahani. Club Tenco and Amnesty International called on «artists, civil society and Italian, European and international institutions to mobilize to save Salehi’s life».
And the organizers of the May 1st concert also announced that they wanted to include an appeal for his release in the lineup.
