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A group of those harmed during the state-led crackdown amid the 2022 "Zan, Zendegi, Azadi" uprising has launched a first-of-its-kind judicial filing naming forty named Iranian figures of purported international crimes.

Case Filing Pursued in Argentina

The application for a legal inquiry to be initiated was lodged within the Argentinian judicial framework. This action was made by a coalition with support from a non-profit legal group. Argentina's courts are recognized for accommodating universal jurisdiction claims.

The complaint asserts that the response from Iran's security forces to the protests entailed "discharging lethal rounds, marker guns, harmful pellets improperly used for crowd control, and various objects at demonstrators." The filing further describes arbitrary roundups, torture in detention, and death sentences of participants that reportedly continue to this day.

Confidential Names

Certain agents across the range of Iran's intelligence apparatus have been named in the legal documents, but their identities are currently being withheld from the public.

Victim Testimonies Motivate the Complaint

One of the litigants, based in Britain Mahsa Piraei, stated that the objective "is not revenge in a personal sense, but justice and transparency." Her parent, Minoo Majidi, in her sixties, was fatally shot in late 2022. Medical examinations indicated in excess of 167 steel projectiles had been fired into her posterior at extremely close proximity. She had been attending a street protest over the demise of Mahsa Amini, a young Kurdish woman who died while detained.

Piraei, a member of Majidi's three offspring, was based abroad at the moment of her mother's tragic killing. She returned to Iran at considerable peril to pay respects at the burial site. Her sibling Roya posted a image of herself by their resting place with her scalp shaved on a private social media account. A contact shared the image, which spread widely, ultimately forcing Roya to flee for Turkey.

Piraei remarked: "Via legal filings and record-keeping the intention is to preserve evidence, name crimes and prevent erasure." She characterized her parent's killing as "systematic in nature but part of a common procedure."

Additional Complainants Consist of Those Shot in the Eye

The other two claimants who can be identified are Kowsar Eftekhari and Mersedeh Shahinkar, both survivors of blinding at point-blank by projectile weapons.

Eftekhari, a young student, was shot in the eye in autumn 2022. She had been demonstrating for weeks, observing fellow demonstrators being hit by lethal fire and being assaulted herself with shock weapons. During a gathering on October 12th, she was at a demonstration near a university when a undercover agent shot her with numerous rounds from a distance of about a meter. He then reportedly fired at her eye when she did not obey his command to disperse. A footage of the assault showing blood flowing from her face went viral, and she was later granted asylum in Germany.

Shahinkar, in her late thirties when assaulted on 18 October, only understood what had transpired when she felt something warm on her face. Fellow individuals cautioned her not to board an ambulance for fear of being delivered to a police station. When she eventually arrived at a treatment facility, a worker ordered her to leave because they did not help protesters. A doctor assessed her and sent her to a hospital, where Shahinkar said a stone had accidentally damaged her vision so she would not be turned away. She posted images of her wounds online, and in January 2023, individuals confronted her, prompting her to leave the country. She later collected a prestigious international award as a figure of the campaign.

International Law Principle Creates Avenue for Case

The individuals initiating the inquiry state that the case is not considered just as a paper exercise with slim prospect of a practical outcome. Universal jurisdiction allows cases to be probed in a different state even if the violation did not happen in that jurisdiction and the accused is not located there. Argentina has notably open laws on such claims in the world.

The principle of international justice has in the past led to dozens of guilty verdicts and the launch of cases regarding crimes committed in dozens of nations. Legal actions are presently being pursued in various nations worldwide.

As the petition is solely for a judicial probe, and this is not a civil lawsuit, there is no demand by the individuals for monetary compensation. This case would not be the first instance against Iranian authorities pursued in Argentina.