Strasbourg, June 25th 2009
By Pauline André
Translated by Morgane Poder
It is soon 18h30 as some 40 people are demonstrating in front of the European Court for Human Rights as a sign of support to the Iran people. Whether they have been in exile for a long time, or are young Iranians who came to France to study in peace, or French citizens showing solidarity, they are all shocked by the brutality of the government which strengthens its repression every day. They have come round a rectangular table decorated with candles and covered with the Iranian flag in order to wear the colour green. As colour of Mir Hossein Moussavi’s campaign – the candidate of the opposition – the colour green has now become a symbol for the struggle of the Iranian people against the political system. Rashne was 20 years old when he left Iran. He is now 29 and has not seen his family since. He did not attend his sister’s weddings. Yet going back to Iran is out of the question for him as long as the Mullah government remains in power. “You have no liberty in Iran, it is like being in prison,” told Rashne. He was expelled from his football club because he did not how to pray. “Everything there is linked to religion,” he explained. You do not even have the right to walk with your girlfriend in the street. The police officers demand to see your identity papers and if you are not married, you end up being arrested.” The Iranians feel stifled under this cultural dictatorship, in Rashne’s opinion, a lot of them are more and more “disgusted” with religion.
