Geneva protesters call for democracy in Iran

Hundreds took to the streets despite a biting wind. © Keystone / Martial Trezzini

Some 300 people took to the streets of Geneva on Saturday despite the cold, calling for democracy in Iran and more action against its regime from the Swiss government.

Braving a strong wind, they chanted “Woman, life, freedom” in French, English, Persian and Kurdish. Their placards included “Down with dictatorship, for a democratic Iran”, “Stop executions immediately” and “Against the dictatorship of the mullahs”.

More than 500 people have died in Iran, thousands have been injured and imprisoned since the death of a young Kurdish woman, Jina Mahsa Amini, in the custody of the morality police who said she was not wearing her headscarf properly. Protests in Iran have met with state violence. There have also been protests around the world against the Islamic regime in Tehran.

As a depositary of the Geneva Conventions, “the City of Geneva strongly condemns this violence”, Geneva mayor Marie Barbey-Chappuis told the demonstrators, assuring them of the city’s support in their cause.

Associations and trade unions who organised the demonstration are calling for Switzerland to take strong action against Tehran, including expulsion of diplomatic representatives, freezing the assets of the regime’s dignitaries and classifying the Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist organisation.