Latest news with #IranianKurd
Yahoo
30-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Iran police disperse pro-hijab protesters outside parliament
Iranian police have dispersed a weeks-long sit-in by demonstrators supporting the mandatory head covering for women, state media reported, after authorities deemed the gathering illegal. The demonstrators -- largely women in black full-body robes -- staged the sit-in since last month outside the parliament building in Tehran. Since Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution, women have been required to conceal their hair in public. However, increasing numbers, particularly in major cities including the capital Tehran, have pushed the boundaries by allowing the covering to slide back. The protesters were calling for the implementation of a bill imposing tougher penalties on women who refuse to wear the covering, known as a hijab. Parliament approved the bill in September 2023. It triggered heated debate in the country, was not submitted to the government for final approval, and has since been shelved. "After numerous negotiations with the relevant authorities and the protesters, they were requested to disperse and refrain from causing disruption, blocking roads, and creating traffic congestion for citizens," the judiciary's Mizan Online website said late Saturday. "A large number of the protesters complied with the police order and left the area but unfortunately a small number (around 30 individuals) resisted", Mizan added. It published a video showing an altercation between the demonstrators and security forces ordering them to leave the area. The official IRNA news agency said the "illegal" sit-in had been in place for around 48 days. Officially known as the "Law on Supporting the Family through the Promotion of the Culture of Chastity and Hijab", the bill would have imposed tougher penalties on women who refuse to wear the mandatory hijab. It also required significant fines and prison sentences for those deemed to be promoting "nudity" or "indecency". Parliament passed the bill around a year after mass demonstrations began in Iran triggered by the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurd. She had been arrested for allegedly violating the strict dress code for women. Increasing numbers of women have flouted the law since then. Government spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani in January said the bill was shelved as it "could have had serious social consequences". rkh/mz/it
Rudaw Net
29-03-2025
- Politics
- Rudaw Net
Kurdish nurse runs in Finnish local elections
A+ A- ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A Kurdish candidate is running in Finland's municipal elections on a platform to amplify Kurdish voices in governance and improve social services. 'I brought forward the message that we must do something for the Kurdish people, for equality,' Tewar Salari told Rudaw in an interview that aired on Friday. Salari is a practicing nurse on the verge of completing a master's degree. She is running on the Social Democratic ticket in Finland's April 13 municipal elections. 'If Kurdish people here want their healthcare services to continue, if they don't want their children to be prevented as foreigners from going to school and so on, they should vote for me,' Salari said. Below is the full transcript of the interview: Rudaw: Ms. Tewar, who works as a midwife, works as a nurse in Finland, has a stable life, and has decided to enter politics. I want to know why it was important for you to enter politics in Finland? Tewar Salari: Yes, first I want to thank you for inviting me to your beautiful program and I send my greetings and respect to all viewers. First, I should mention that there may be some shortcomings in my Kurdish, so please forgive me. I have grown up in Finland since I was two years old. Before entering politics, I was in many youth organizations and in refugee and human rights organizations. There, I felt that people like us are needed in politics. Often when decisions are made, for example, people like us are forgotten, and among those decision-makers, our form, voice, or words are not truly represented. That's why I have now strongly started to enter politics. I am also studying, which wasn't mentioned here - I'm about to complete my master's degree in healthcare soon, but I've been thinking about developing this in this country and for the new generation, so they have the same opportunities as I had in this country. Well, you have chosen the Social Democrats, you want to serve people in Finland through them. Why are the Social Democrats more suitable than others for political work, especially for an active woman like yourself? The Social Democrats have worked a lot for equality from the beginning, they have worked hard to ensure complete justice for everyone. I am also someone who has worked a lot for this outside of politics, so it has made it easier for my voice to join theirs, and their voice makes mine even stronger. Along with that, you come from a Peshmerga family, were born in the Kurdistan Region and are from Kurdish areas of Iran. What influence has that political background had on your decision to enter politics in Finland? Certainly, as I grew up here as a foreigner, I have experienced many of the things that foreigners go through here. As a Kurd, I have felt many things. For example, Kurdish rights are often violated in many places, and every Kurd knows this now. Despite that, I have worked a lot for Kurdish people and for the Kurdish voice. For instance, when this movement started in Iranian Kurdistan, "Woman, Life, Freedom," which unfortunately began after Jina (Mahsa Amini)'s death, I went to the European Parliament and spoke with many parliamentarians and even went to the Commission. I brought forward the message that we must do something for the Kurdish people, for equality. That voice that has now started there, we must strongly hold onto it and support it. You are running in the city of Turku. There are also Kurds there. What do you have for the Kurds there? Why should they vote for you and how can they help you? Yes, we now have a government in power that is cutting a lot of money from healthcare services and children's education. I will prevent these things in every way through the Social Democrats. If they have issues, if Kurdish people here want their healthcare services to continue, if they don't want their children to be prevented as foreigners from going to school and so on, they should vote for me. Thank you very much.
Telegraph
28-03-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
Migrant avoids deportation by ‘faking' criticism of Iranian regime
An illiterate Iranian Kurd has avoided deportation despite a 'cynical' and 'disingenuous' claim to be an opponent of the Tehran regime in Facebook posts that he could not even read. The unnamed 26-year-old's claim against deportation was initially rejected by an immigration judge who found that the Kurd had pretended to be a critic of the Iranian regime while in the UK to bolster his 'weak' asylum claim. His political activities included attending demonstrations at the Iranian embassy and making Facebook posts, which the Home Office said must have been written for him by somebody else because he was illiterate. The court was told: 'The appellant will have no idea what has been posted because he can't read it.' Despite his claim being rejected by a first-tier tribunal and strident opposition to his appeal by the Home Office, an upper immigration tribunal found there were 'errors in law' in the lower court's judgment and ordered a re-hearing of the case. This included failing to take sufficient account of the risk that Iran could still regard him as an opponent of the regime and mistreat him in breach of his rights under article three of the European Convention on Human Rights, which protects against persecution. Application was rejected The case, disclosed in court papers, is the latest example exposed by The Telegraph where illegal migrants or convicted foreign criminals have won the right to remain or halt their deportations. There are a record 41,987 outstanding immigration appeals, largely on human rights grounds, which threaten to hamper Labour's efforts to fast-track the removal of illegal migrants. The backlog has risen by nearly a quarter since September 2024 and is up nearly 500 per cent from 7,173 at the start of 2022. The Iranian Kurd was a self-confessed cross-border smuggler who left Iran illegally before coming to the UK, where he claimed refugee protection on the basis of his political opinion in June 2021, the court was told. His application was rejected by the Home Office in August 2023. That decision was upheld by a first-tier tribunal judge who ruled that the Kurd's attendance at demonstrations and posting on Facebook 'did not reflect his genuine political beliefs and would not have come to the attention of the Iranian authorities'. The judge also identified inconsistencies in his story. That verdict was backed by the Home Office when the Kurd appealed the lower tribunal's decision. The department's lawyer said his political activities were 'cynical attempts to bolster a weak asylum claim', adding that the Kurd was 'illiterate, so somebody else must be making Facebook posts for him'. However, the upper tribunal judge disputed 'inconsistencies' in the Kurd's story identified by the first court, saying it was 'internally consistent'. He said the court failed to consider the risk that the Kurd still faced if deported to Iran, having been involved in anti-regime protests, even if in a 'disingenuous way'. Wristwatch ban means asylum seeker can stay Meanwhile, a gay Malaysian asylum seeker has won the right to stay in Britain after a judge ruled his home country's ban on Pride wristwatches showed he was at risk of persecution if sent back. Judge Bijan Hoshi ruled that the LGBQT+ community was subjected to 'serious discrimination and harassment' by both the government and society in the Southeast Asian country. In his ruling, the judge referred to the banning of a 'Pride collection' of watches made by the Swiss company Swatch in 2023. The prohibition meant that any Malaysians caught wearing them could face a three-year prison sentence. While the Home Office initially ruled the asylum seeker, in his early 30s, should return to Malaysia, he appealed and has now been granted refugee status.
Jordan Times
12-02-2025
- Politics
- Jordan Times
Iran extends amnesty to journalists who covered Amini's death
A woman jogs on a snowy day in Tehran, on Sunday (AFP photo) TEHRAN — Iranian authorities on Tuesday granted pardons to two journalists jailed after covering the 2022 death in custody of Mahsa Amini, which sparked nationwide protests, official media said. Elaheh Mohammadi, 37, and Niloufar Hamedi, 32, were jailed in September 2022, days after producing media coverage of Amini's death. The two journalists, both women, had spent more than a year behind bars before their release on bail. 'The cases of Ms Mohammadi and Ms Hamedi have been included in the list of pardons presented on Tuesday and have been awarded amnesty,' said the judiciary's Mizan Online news website. Mohammadi, a reporter for the reformist Ham Mihan daily, was arrested after going to Amini's hometown of Saqez, in the western Iranian province of Kurdistan, to cover her funeral which turned into a demonstration. Hamedi, a photographer for Shargh daily, was arrested less than a week after Amini's death after posting a picture of the young woman's grieving family on social media. They had both received jail terms for collaboration with the United States, conspiring against state security and propaganda against the Islamic republic. In August, the lawyers of the two journalists said they had been acquitted of the charge of collaboration with the United States. Shargh reported on Tuesday that the cases of both journalists were now 'closed'. Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurd, had been arrested for an alleged breach of strict dress rules for women, in place since shortly after Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution. Page 2
