The Islamic Republic of Iran suffered a “major disruption”
in internet service on Wednesday amid anti-hijab and anti-government protests
that erupted after the death of a 22-year-old Iranian-Kurdish woman, who the
Iranian morality police had detained, an advocacy group said.
NetBlocks, an advocacy group, said that Iran's internet
traffic had dropped to around 25% compared to the peak, even during a working
day, in which students were in their schools across the country.
NetBlocks said, “The incident is likely to further limit the
free flow of information amid protests.” NetBlocks referred to recent protests
that began on Wednesday. Tehran witnessed a massive deployment of riot police
and plainclothes officers across the city. Residents reported disruptions
affecting their mobile internet services.
Despite the disruption, a demonstration took place in Tehran
by some 30 women who had removed their mandatory Hijabs. They chanted, “Death
to the dictator!”
Protests erupted across Iran over the death of Mahsa Amini.
She was arrested on September 13 for allegedly wearing a loose hijab. Iranian
morality police forcefully took her inside a van. Witnesses claimed that they
beat her while taking her to the van. They took Amini to the detention centre
to teach her about Hijab. However, she fell into a coma. On September 16, the
doctor pronounced her dead.
Amini’s family said that her body showed bruises and other
signs of beating after she was detained for violating the Islamic Republic’s
strict dress code that requires women to cover their hair completely. Amini’s
family said that they beat her at the detention centre. However, Iran’s
government said that Amini was not mistreated at the detention centre.
An Oslo-based human rights group, Iran Human Rights, said on
Wednesday that at least 201 people have been killed in protests. Iran's
Education Minister Yousof Nouri also said that school-age children have been
arrested during the protests.
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