Canada will impose sanctions on those involved in the death of Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini, including Iran’s so-called “morality police,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says.
“We’ve seen Iran disregarding human rights time and time again. Now we see it with the death of Mahsa Amini and the crackdown on protests,” he said.
“Today, I’m announcing that we will implement sanctions on dozens of individuals and entities, including Iran’s so-called morality police.”
Trudeau didn’t specify who would be sanctioned, but Global Affairs in an email statement said they will be able to “provide more details on these sanctions in due course.”
Amini died on Sept. 16 while in police custody in Tehran. She was arrested by the Guidance Patrol, the morality squad of the Law Enforcement Command of the Islamic Republic of Iran, allegedly for not wearing her hijab properly.
Soon after news of Amini’s death was broadcast and a photograph emerged on social media of her lying in a Tehran hospital in a coma, people throughout the country became enraged, demanding accountability for her death by Iranian security forces.
Protests in Iran have spread to at least 46 cities, towns, and villages to date, with protesters shouting slogans against compulsory hijab and denouncing the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei.
The clashes between protesters and the police have resulted in the deaths of at least 41 people since the demonstrations started on Sept. 17, Iranian state TV suggested.
An Associated Press count of official statements by authorities tallied at least 13 dead, with more than 1,400 demonstrators arrested.
Trudeau said Canada will stand in solidarity with the protesters.
“We join our voices, the voices of all Canadians, to the millions of people around the world, demanding that the Iranian government listen to their people, end their repression of freedoms and rights, and let women and all Iranians live their lives and express themselves peacefully.”
