Neda Agha-Soltan

Neda Agha-Soltan ( listen ^{? / I} ; * 1982 ; † June 20, 2009 in Tehran ; Persian ندا آقاسلطان) was an Iranian from Tehran. She became known worldwide through a video posted on the Internet that appeared to show her dying. According to eyewitness reports, she was killed by a pistol shot by a member of the Basich militia during the protests following the Iranian presidential election in 2009 .

The first name Neda, which means “voice” or “call” in Persian , was chanted in the following days by protesters against the assumed election fraud in Tehran and at solidarity demonstrations in Europe and the USA and thus became a symbol of the resistance of the Iranian opposition. The British daily The Times named Neda Agha-Soltan Person of the Year in December 2009.

Circumstances of death

Videos

The tomb of Neda Agha-Soltan was very quickly covered with flowers from the visitors.

The almost 40-second video shows a young woman falling backwards to the ground of a street in the midst of a crowd, while a pool of blood spreads under her body. Two men try to help her by pressing their hands on her chest. After a few seconds her eyes roll to the side, blood oozes from her mouth and nose; Break your eyes as the men scream. Then the video stops.

A second video shows the same scene from a different angle; For a brief moment the bloodied face of the woman with already broken eyes is visible between the screaming men. A third video shows a young woman with a companion in a striped shirt - apparently one of the men who is visible on the other videos as one of the helpers - as a participant in an Iranian protest demonstration.

The first clip, probably recorded with a mobile phone camera, was sent to the Netherlands as an e-mail attachment , from there it was first uploaded via the Facebook and Twitter websites and then widely distributed via YouTube . In the first versions, a commentator who introduces himself as an eyewitness gives 7:05 p.m. on June 20, 2009 as the time and Karekar Boulevard, the corner of Khosravi Street and Salehi Street in Tehran, as the location of the events shown. The young woman was hit in the heart by a bullet from a sniper of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard . As a doctor, he had come to the rescue. The bullet probably exploded in the woman's chest, so that she was dead in less than two minutes. An assisting friend recorded the film. He asked for it to be distributed.

Later versions with English subtitles translate the men's screams as follows:

“Don't be afraid, Neda!
Stay with me, Neda, my child, my child, stay with me!
Find someone to take them in the car! "

The young woman's father was initially suspected to be the caller of the second sentence.

Representation of witnesses

An Iranian who identified himself as Neda's fiancé Caspian Makan told the BBC's Persian broadcaster on June 21, 2009 that she and her music teacher were in a car a few streets away from the center of the protest, the Amir Abad area. The car got stuck in a traffic jam and she got out of the car because of the heat. Then she was shot in the chest, most likely by a targeted shot by a Basij militiaman. In a few minutes she was dead. They tried to take her to the nearest hospital, but it was too late.

The authorities had requested the relatives' consent to release parts of their corpses for transplantation without disclosing what exactly they wanted to do with them. The family finally agreed to this so that they could be buried quickly. The closest circle of her relatives buried her on the afternoon of the same day in the Behescht-e Zahra cemetery in south Tehran. He saw a number of freshly dug graves there and had the impression that these were intended for possible further deaths of the protests. A memorial service for the family in a mosque planned for June 22 and all other gatherings were banned by the authorities in order to prevent unwanted demonstrations. They are aware that the whole world knows about the death of the young woman.

An Iranian named Hamid Panahi , who describes herself as her music teacher, and an unnamed woman, who describes herself as Neda's girlfriend, told Los Angeles Times representatives in Iran on June 21, 2009: Neda Agha-Soltan was the second of three in Tehran Children born. Her father works for the government. The family belongs to the middle class. Neda studied Islamic philosophy at Azad University in Tehran , but then wanted to become a travel companion in the tourism industry. She also took Turkish courses. Traveling has been her passion and she has taken package tours to Dubai , Thailand and Turkey in recent years . Two months before her death, she was near Antalya on the Mediterranean.

She loved music, especially Persian pop, and took piano and singing lessons. She was not an activist, but only took part in the Saturday protests because of the election results. She could not bear the injustice of the alleged election result and wanted to show this by her presence at the protests. On June 19, 2009, after the Friday prayer, a friend asked her not to do so because of the danger the following day, but she did not listen.

He, Panahi, accompanied her on June 20 with two other friends. Her car got stuck on the way to Freiheitsplatz after 6:30 p.m. due to a traffic jam in Karegar Strasse . They got out of the car, threw no stones and made no aggressive gestures. Then he heard a shot and saw Neda fall down immediately afterwards. He didn't hear any more shots. He and a man who introduced himself as a doctor tried to stop the bleeding from her throat with their hands. “I'm on fire, I'm on fire,” were Neda's last words. They took her to Shariati Hospital in another car , but she was already dead.

The family buried her on Sunday in the Behescht-e Zahra cemetery in Tehran. The authorities had forbidden her from making a public address and loud funeral chants, memorial services in a mosque and public interviews, and ordered the usual black funeral banners to be torn off the front of her house. The relatives and friends believed that pro -government paramilitaries , Basij or Hezbollah militias , were responsible for Neda's death. Panahi learned from other eyewitnesses that civilian security guards were nearby.

According to an unconfirmed correspondent report in the British newspaper The Guardian on June 25, 2009, security forces are said to have forced the Soltan family to move out of their apartment on Meshkini Street on the evening of June 20, 2009 . According to neighbors, the family did not even get Neda's body back. She was buried without notifying the family, and the usual funeral ceremony in a mosque and obituary notice on the house had been banned. The neighbors had been warned by anonymous calls to tell others about their shooting.

On June 25, 2009, the BBC published an interview with Arash Hejazi , an Iranian doctor who lives in Oxford . He was in Tehran on business at the time of the crime, mingled with the demonstrators on the evening of June 20 and was standing just a few meters from Neda Agha-Soltan when the fatal shot hit her. He heard the sound of the gunshot, but a friend reassured him: The Tehran police only use plastic bullets. Then he saw the blood flow from the woman's upper body. He tried to provide first aid and suspected that the bullet hit the aorta and lungs from the front. She died in his arms in the car on the way to the nearest hospital.

The other man next to him on the video was not the father, but the woman's music teacher. The demonstrators discovered the alleged shooter shortly after the incident, disarmed him, removed his ID and photographed him. It was a militia motorcyclist, not a sniper on a roof, as was initially assumed. He heard him say: I didn't mean to kill her. Some would have wanted to lynch him, others would have prevented it and said: We are not murderers. They thought about handing him over to the police. But since this took action against the demonstrators themselves, they let him go. Because of the falsification allegations of the Iranian media, he decided to go public with these details so that Neda would not have died in vain.

The Brazilian poet Paulo Coelho confirms Hejazi's portrayal. He identified one of the two men in the video on June 20, 2009 as his friend and translator of his books and contacted him through email to find out where he was. On June 23, 2009, Hejazi replied that he was hiding and that he wanted to leave Iran as soon as possible to get to safety. He will be in touch after arriving in Great Britain. This was then done. Coelho published this correspondence on his blog .

Representation of Iranian government representatives

The Iranian state broadcaster Khabar alleged on June 23, 2009 that the video of Neda Agha-Soltan's shooting had been falsified. Official reports later said she had been killed by unknown terrorists. According to a report by the state-run Fars news agency on June 24, 2009, the Tehran police denied having used sharp weapons against demonstrators. A rally participant shot wildly and accidentally hit the woman in the back of the head. This would have shown witness interviews and forensic examinations. The gunner's weapon had been smuggled in from abroad.

According to the Iranian government newspaper Javan , Neda Agha-Soltan himself was one of the Basij militias. The British BBC journalist Jon Leyne , who had previously been expelled for his current Iran coverage, ordered murderers to shoot them in order to be able to film their deaths, thereby accusing the Iranian government.

Ayatollah Ahmad Chātami claimed in his Friday sermon on June 26, 2009 that the woman was deliberately shot by demonstrators to make propaganda against the government of Iran: She was killed so that someone like Obama could shed crocodile tears.

On June 29, 2009, its website reported that the incumbent Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had hired the chief of the Iranian judiciary, Ayatollah Mahmud Hashemi Shahrudi , to investigate Neda Agha-Soltan's "murder". Apart from the demonstrations, she was murdered in a “completely suspicious way” by “unknown agents”. These would have to be identified. Western media, opponents and enemies of the Iranian nation tried to politically exploit the "heartbreaking" incident to damage the clear image of the Islamic Republic. That is why he instructed Shahroudi to pursue the case more seriously, to catch the perpetrators, bring them to trial and communicate the results to the Iranian people.

The Iranian Internet agency "Raja News" accuses British agents of "illegally killing our dear citizen Neda".

The police chief of Iran, Brigadier General Esmail Ahmadi-Moqaddam, allegedly accused Arash Hejazi of a conspiracy with foreign enemies against the Islamic Republic and threatened prosecution if he returned to his country.

In January 2010, Iranian English-language news broadcaster Press TV claimed on a nationwide program that the video of Neda's death was staged.

consequences

Iran

On June 20, 2009, at least nine other people besides Neda Agha-Soltan were killed by gunfire by the security forces. On July 30, 2009, according to testimony, thousands of Iranians, including many family members of the victims and opposition leaders Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi , wanted to celebrate a funeral service at Neda Agha-Soltan's grave against the election results and the regime's violence. Government troops and civilly dressed Basij militias prevented this with tear gas, batons and warning shots. Neda's mother dropped her declared intention to attend the service and instead lit candles in a park near her home.

Hajar Rostami Motlagh, who takes care of family affairs because of her husband's illness, had planned to celebrate the mourning rituals customary in Iran on the 40th day after the death of her daughter Neda. However, she refrained from doing so on the morning of July 30, apparently after the regime threatened her to do so. She told western media over the phone that she did not want to be responsible for any new deaths in clashes between protesters and Iranian security forces. She hired a lawyer to solve the death of her daughter because she does not believe the portrayal of the regime. She also hoped for an independent parliamentary commission. The authorities had banned the planned mourning demonstration and violently broke it up after opposition members gathered at Neda's grave in unauthorized masses around 6 p.m. that day.

In August 2009, photographs of a Basijmilizen ID card belonging to a man named Abbas Kargar Javid and one of this man's ID issued by the Iranian Ministry of the Interior appeared on the Internet. Hejazi testified to the London Times on August 20 that this was the man who protesters captured on June 20, shortly after Neda Agha-Soltan was shot, as a suspected motorcyclist and whose ID they had photographed. Friends of his had also seen Javid's brief detention and heard that he had confessed to being a gunman who did not want to kill Neda, and could testify to his identity with the man on the ID. He was repelled that the Iranian regime, which had arrested, tortured and killed many peaceful demonstrators over the past ten weeks, had taken no action against the perpetrator to the best of his knowledge. This shows how unfair the current situation in Iran is.

foreign countries

In an international press conference in Washington, DC on June 23, 2009 , US President Barack Obama commented on the shooting of Neda Agha-Soltan: He saw the video of her death, saying it was "heartbreaking". At the same time, using their example, he praised “the courage and dignity” of the Iranian demonstrators, especially the women. Her loss is "brutal and extraordinarily painful":

"But we also know that those who work for justice are always on the right side of the story."

Caspian Makan says he was detained for 65 days in Iran as a result of his participation in the protests. After his release, he fled to the West via Turkey and was granted political asylum in Canada. He gave numerous interviews to western media with new details on Neda's attitude towards the Iranian opposition. Although she was not politically active, she wanted to actively support the protests after they began and expressed premonitions of death. The whole regime was responsible for her death; the perpetrator's ID is a piece of evidence, even if his name is incorrect.

In March 2010, Makan traveled to Israel at the invitation of an Israeli television station and met Shimon Peres , the current president of the country , on March 22 at his own request . He presented Neda Agha-Soltan as a freedom fighter, who had shown herself to be aware of the risks of her engagement in intensive discussions with him. Peres expressed his sympathy and hope that Neda's death would help the Iranian opposition's freedom struggle to victory. On departure, Makan said, according to Israeli newspaper reports, that he had come to Israel as an ambassador of peace for his people.

Makan's visit to Israel and the statements he reported there met with criticism from some Iranian exiles. The British journalist Masih Alinejadze, who works for the Iranian opposition, doubts that Makan was engaged to her when Neda Agha-Soltan's death occurred, as her sister only told her of a brief relationship between the two that ended nine months earlier. He therefore does not have the right to appear in their name and that of the Iranian opposition. According to other Iranians, his visit to Israel with the claim of an Iranian ambassador damaged their reputation, since Israel itself violated human rights. In a BBC interview, Neda's mother confirmed Makan's relationship with her daughter and their planned marriage, but also denied him the right to speak on behalf of Neda's family, the Iranian opposition and the Iranian people. He shouldn't abuse Neda's name, but let her rest in peace. With his visit to Israel he "ruined" himself; She was referring to an Iranian law that prohibits Iranians from entering Israel and otherwise expatriates them.

Makan denied the statement he cited in Israel; he only thanked Peres on behalf of all Iranians for his gift of a dove of peace.

confusion

Since the day of her death, the murdered Neda Agha-Soltan has been shown in international media worldwide with a photograph from the Facebook page of another living Iranian woman named Neda Soltani. She was an English lecturer at the Islamic Azad University Damavand , where Neda Agha-Soltan had studied. Despite her references to the mix-up on Facebook, some journalists continued to use her photo. Soltani stated that she was then suspected in many letters of being an agent of the Islamic Republic of Iran, who had gained access to Neda Agha-Soltan's Facebook account and wanted to destroy the “face” of a “heroine”, a symbol of resistance and opposition be. In addition, the Iranian secret service wanted to use the wrong use of their image in the international media to portray the killing of Neda Agha-Soltan as bogus foreign propaganda. Iranian agents have accused her of being a spy for the CIA. Many of her friends have turned away from her because of the situation and danger. By reusing her photo against her better judgment, the western media would have knowingly put her at risk. Some Iranian officials have further claimed that she is identical to Neda Agha-Soltan and that she orchestrated her own killing.

Soltani fled Iran due to the consequences of the mix-up and applied for political asylum in Germany . On May 15, 2012, she published the book My Stolen Face .

Web links

• Jennie Yabroff (Newsweek, June 24, 2009): The Woman in the Picture
• Nazila Fathi (New York Times, June 22, 2009): In a Death Seen Around the World, a Symbol of Iranian Protests
• CNN, June 24, 2009: Who was Neda? Slain woman an unlikely martyr
• CNN, June 28, 2009: Iran's Press TV disputes story of Neda's death
• Spiegel TV (June 29, 2009): Story of a video: Neda's public death
• Opera "Neda" by Nader Mashayekhi: Without kitsch, but with pathos

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c} Timesonline (August 20, 2009): The face of Abbas Kargar Javid - man accused of killing Neda Soltan
2. ↑ the daily newspaper (June 23, 2009): “Neda” becomes a protest call from the Iranians
3. ↑ Martin Fletcher (Times Online, December 26, 2009): Iranian student protester Neda Soltan is Times Person of the Year
4. ↑ You-Tube-Video, June 20, 2009: Second angle: Young girl shot by Iranian police dies on Camera
5. ↑ YouTube Video, June 21, 2009: CNN: Her name was Neda
6. ↑ You-Tube-Video, June 20, 2009 (optically marked by CNN): Iranian girl and her dad moments before being shot dead
7. ↑ Daniel-Dylan Böhmer (Die Welt, December 27, 2009): Stay with me, Neda, stay with me!
8. ↑ Ulrike Putz (Der Spiegel, June 21, 2009): Dead Iranian protester: Neda, the icon of the protest
9. ↑ BBC, June 22, 2009: Death video woman 'targeted by militia'
10. ↑ Los Angeles Times (June 23, 2009): Family, friends mourn 'Neda', Iranian woman who died on video
11. ↑ ^{a b} The Guardian, June 24, 2009: Neda Soltan's family 'forced out of home' by Iranian authorities
12. ↑ BBC, June 25, 2009: The man who tried to save Neda ; The Times (June 26, 2009): Doctor tells how Neda Soltan was shot dead by Ahmadinejad's basij ; Der Spiegel, June 26, 2009: Unrest in Iran: "Neda died in my arms"
13. ↑ Paulo Coelho´s blog from June 26th, 2009: Arash Hejazi Interview for BBC
14. ↑ Ulrike Putz (Der Spiegel, June 23, 2009): Propaganda battle for the heroine of the new Iran
15. ↑ Der Spiegel, June 24, 2009: Espionage allegation: Iran wants to freeze relations with Great Britain
16. ^ Die Zeit (June 26, 2009): Ayatollah calls for the death penalty for demonstrators
17. ↑ President.iran, June 29, 2009: President urges Judiciary chief to inquire into Neda's murder
18. ↑ dw-world.de dw-world.de of July 16, 2009
19. ^ Press TV: Nedas Death - The other Side of the Coin
20. ↑ Iranhumanrights (July 30, 2009): Neda's Mother Holds Solitary Candle Vigil While Her Memorial Service is Violently Attacked
21. ↑ Ulrike Putz (Der Spiegel, July 30, 2009): Killed Iranian woman: Neda's mother demands justice
22. ^ Helene Cooper, David E. Sanger (New York Times, June 23, 2009): Obama Condemns Iran's Iron Fist Against Protests
23. ↑ Netzeitung, June 23, 2009: Obama messes with Iran ( Memento from March 14, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
24. ↑ Der Spiegel, March 15, 2010: Iran: Freedom was their topic (interview with Caspian Makan)
25. ^ Greer Fay Cashman (The Jerusalem Post, March 23, 2010): Fiancé of slain Iranian protester Neda Soltan meets Peres
26. ↑ Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, May 24, 2010: Persian Letters: Trip To Israel By Neda's 'Fiance' Causes Controversy
27. ↑ Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, March 24, 2010: Persian Letters: Makan Was Neda's Fiance, But He Doesn't Represent The Iranian People
28. ↑ Der Spiegel, May 24, 2010: Dispute over dead Iranian opposition members: "Neda would turn around in her grave"
29. ↑ ^{a b} Neda Soltani: 'The media mix-up that ruined my life' ( Memento June 3, 2013 on WebCite ) (BBC News, November 14, 2012, archived from the original on June 3, 2013)
30. ↑ ^{a b} Silke Mülherr: The death of others . In: Berliner Morgenpost , May 15, 2012, p. 4.
31. ↑ David Schraven: The Second Life of Neda Soltani - The False Dead ( Memento of the original from February 8, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The  archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . In: Süddeutsche Zeitung , February 5, 2010, accessed on June 15, 2012.
32. ↑ Neda Soltani: My stolen face. Translated from the English by Dagmar Mallet. Kailash Verlag / Random House, Munich 2012, ISBN 978-3-424-63049-7 .