Roya Zakeri is the name of a young woman who was taken into custody by security forces on Sunday, October 15. A video of her, entitled “Tabriz Girl,” quickly spread across social media.
According to witnesses, Roya Zakeri was harassed by a female hijab patrol on October 15, 2023, around noon in Monjam Street, Tabriz, for not wearing the mandatory hijab. She was then severely beaten by security forces.
In response to their actions, Ms. Zakeri began chanting slogans and boldly shouted “Death to the dictator” and “Death to Khamenei” in the face of the security forces. Government agents then took her from the crowd in an ambulance and transported her to Razi Hospital, a Neurology and Psychiatry Hospital in Tabriz.
State-affiliated media outlets falsely claimed that Ms. Zakeri was suffering from a mental illness and experiencing delusions on the street. They stated that she had been taken to medical facilities for treatment. However, she was in sound mental and psychological health, and her shouts were an act of protest, not delusions.
Roya Zakeri is a 31-year-old unmarried woman with a master’s degree in computer science. Her current condition in the women’s ward of Razi Hospital is unknown. She is originally from Marand and currently resides in Tabriz.
Last year, Roya Zakeri was arrested by security forces during nationwide protests in October 2022 outside Tabriz University. She was detained for an unspecified period and went on a hunger strike for five consecutive days during her detention, as she mentions in the video.
According to reports from the Iran Human Rights Monitor (IranHRM), Roya Zakeri from Marand was immediately taken to Razi Hospital (Neurology and Psychiatry Hospital) in Tabriz after her arrest four days ago. She has been subjected to strict security measures, and her family has been forbidden from visiting her.
The Iranian regime commonly uses the transfer of political prisoners to psychiatric hospitals as a method to suppress the opposition. Behnam Mahjoubi was one political prisoner who died in a psychiatric hospital in 2021.