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| Arzu Badri lies in the hospital bed. |
Arzu Badri, an ethnic Turk woman from Nur, a city in Iran’s Mazandaran province, remains unable to walk after being severely injured by police gunfire in July. Doctors report that her chances of regaining the ability to walk are extremely low.
Women’s rights activist Masih Alinejad shared on the X platform that Arzu Badri’s family is under pressure to remain silent. “Arzu is fighting not only her severe condition in the hospital but also the regime’s relentless efforts to silence her family,” Alinejad stated.
Arzu Badri, originally from Azerbaijan, was a passenger in a vehicle traveling from Nur to Babolsar when the police opened fire on her car, alleging a violation of hijab regulations. The gunfire caused severe spinal injuries to Arzu.
Following the incident, on August 19, the Tasnim news agency released a 35-second video showing Arzu Badri and her father in the hospital. In the video, her father expresses gratitude to officials and the police forces, claiming his daughter’s condition is improving. Opposition activists have labeled this video as one of the forced confessions frequently imposed on dissidents in the Islamic Republic of Iran, asserting that Arzu Badri and her family were coerced.
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| Arzu Badri and her father |
Arzu Badri was initially taken to a hospital in Nur and later transferred to Imam Khomeini Hospital in Sari. She is currently receiving treatment at Vali-e-Asr Hospital in Tehran.
When Arzu Badri was first admitted to the hospital, a large number of security forces were deployed to the site, and strict measures were taken to prevent the incident from becoming public.
Iranian police claim that they did not fire at the vehicle due to hijab violations but because the driver, Arzu’s sister, allegedly attempted to flee after ignoring a police order to stop. According to the police, they aimed at the car’s tires to halt it. The police’s statement notes that one passenger was injured and taken to the hospital during the incident.
Link to the original text in Turkish on the Azerbaijani section of Voice of America:
Polisin açdığı atəş nəticəsində onurğasından ağır yaralanan Arzu Bədrinin ailəsinə təzyiqlərin davam etdiyi deyilir