'We are still with you': Iranian community marks one year since death of Mahsa Amini

Iranians living in Canada and their supporters gathered in downtown Ottawa Saturday to protest Iran's conservative Islamic theocracy, one year after the death of Mahsa Amini.

The 22-year-old died in the custody of Iran's morality police last September, who were holding her on allegations that she'd violated that country's hijab law.

Iranian authorities said Amini had a heart attack but hadn't been harmed.  Her family has disputed that, leading to public protests that spread across the country and then around the globe.

The resulting "Mahsa movement" challenged the legitimacy of Iran's ruling clerics, who have held power since 1979.

In response, Iranian security forces waged a deadly crackdown on protesters.  

'We don't forget'

On Saturday, over 200 people gathered outside the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa to keep the anti-violence movement alive in what organizers described as a peaceful and accessible setting.

Rahil Golipoor, an Iranian who has lived in Canada for over a decade, was among them.

"We are all here to say to my people in Iran that we are still with you," Golipoor said. 

"We don't forget the women of Iran and women of Afghanistan and women in that area, all in that condition. That is not what women deserve."

Golipoor also had a message for Western governments.

"Please, please, please don't support the government of Iran. Don't have deals with them," she said.

On the eve of the anniversary, U.S. President Joe Biden announced his government will impose more sanctions on Iranian people and firms, targeting "some of Iran's most egregious human rights abusers." 

Canada responded too. Six senior regime officials are banned from entering Canada or having holdings in the country.

Another Saturday protest participant, Saeideh Shabani, had a painted red streak down her right cheek and a fake bruise over her eye. 

She said it represented the violence against protesters in Iran. 

"My presence here is not only for support of the movement we started a year ago to have a free Iran," she said.

"But also, I feel for the families of those [who] have sacrificed their lives or been injured and [want] to keep their memory and their movement alive."

Similar protests were planned in several other Canadian cities including Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver, according to Amnesty International.