Banafsheh Kamali

The murder of Mahsa Amini triggered a country-wide uprising in September 2022 in Iran. The protests were initially sporadical around the country and against the mandatory hijab. But in a few days, dozens of cities in Iran became the scenes of clashes between protesters and security forces. The protesters' main demands were freedom of attire and the overthrow of the Islamic Republic. The focus of the protests on women led to international attention. <symbol-timeline></symbol-timeline>

• <coverage-outsourcing id='47440'> <reference source='https://www.hra-news.org/2023/hranews/a-39673/'> She was released from prison. On February 5th, 2023, the Islamic Republic's Judiciary issued a memo that announced the beginning of the process of releasing some of the protesters arrested during the 2022 national uprising. According to the judiciary's Mizan website, and the latest comments made by the spokesperson for the judiciary, this "pardon" is in honor of the anniversary of the Islamic Revolution and contingent on the prisoners expressing regret; The pardon is not extended to cases with charges such as "connection to dissident groups", and "destruction of public property". However, many of the released prisoners have posted videos and notes saying they never requested a pardon and never expressed regret. There are even videos of female activists taking off their hijab and chanting against the Islamic Republic in front of the prison moments after their release. The release of prisoners being called a pardon has caused a massive reaction online and some activists on social media and human rights organizations consider it a PR stunt to repair some of the damage to Ali Khamenei's image. </reference> </coverage-outsourcing>