An Iranian commits suicide in Lyon to denounce the repression in his country

“When you watch this video, I will be dead. » An Iranian committed suicide on Monday, December 26, by jumping into the Rhône in Lyon in order, he says in a posthumous video, to draw attention to the situation of his country shaken by demonstrations. The Iranian was found drowned late Monday, police said, confirming information from the local newspaper Progress.

The 38-year-old man as he appears in his video posted on several social networks, including Instagram, could not be resuscitated despite the intervention of the firefighters, who brought him back to the bank, he said. – we learned from the same source.

In his video, the man, who says he has lived in Lyon since 2019, says in a calm voice:

“The police are attacking people [en Iran], we lost a lot of sons and daughters, teenagers, even children, so we have to do something. I decide to commit suicide in the Rhône river, it’s like a challenge to show that we, the Iranian people, are very, very tired of this situation. We decide to change our country. »

“When you watch this video, I will be dead”he continues, before calling for support for the Iranian people in their fight against “extremely violent police and government”.

Gathering Gallieni Bridge

According to several members of the Iranian community, Mohammad Moradi was a history undergraduate and worked in a restaurant. He lived in Lyon with his wife for three years.

The Lyon public prosecutor’s office announced to Agence France-Presse on Tuesday that it had “sponsored an investigation into the causes of death, in order to verify the hypothesis of a suicide in view in particular of the messages posted by the person concerned on social networks announcing his intention. The investigation will also seek to determine the motive of the facts..

Candles lit to pay tribute to Mohammad Moradi, in Lyon, on December 27, 2022.

“Mohammad Moradi killed himself to make the voice of revolution heard in Iran, our voice is not propagated by the Western media”lambasted Tuesday Timothée Amini, spokesperson for some 3,000 members of the Iranian community in Lyon, during a rally at the scene of the tragedy, Gallieni bridge (between the 7e and 2e boroughs).

In front of many journalists, about forty people placed candles, bouquets of roses and photos of the deceased on the railings, before delivering speeches and songs.

Mohammad Moradi committed suicide after jumping into the Rhône to raise awareness of the situation of the Iranian people, in Lyon, on December 27, 2022.

“We are entitled to Ukraine every morning, but we hear very little about Iran. It is difficult to live for us, Iranians of the diaspora”insisted Mr. Amini, a political refugee working in IT. “His heart was beating for Iran, he could no longer support this regime”he laments.

Iran has been experiencing a wave of protest for two months unprecedented since the Islamic revolution of 1979. It was born out of demands for women’s rights after the death of Mahsa Amini, arrested for having worn the Islamic veil incorrectly, which have changed in opposition to power.

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The World with AFP

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