Tehran, “Donna Vita Libertà”: the petition for the liberation of the Iranian people mobilizes Italy

ROME – “Donna Vita Libertà” is not just a petition, but draws the attention of national and European institutions, intellectuals, artists, civil society, through various demonstrations, the first in Naples and Rome. From Amnesty International to Women in Black, from Imbavagliati to the street artist Laika, who granted the design of the poster of the initiatives, the participation grows more every day. There are almost 70 associations that have signed up to the solidarity flash mob to the cry of Donna Vita Libertà. Marisa Laurito tells us why she deems it necessary to fight for the liberation of Iran now.

The appeal to Mattarella and von der Leyen. Recall the Italian ambassador and ensure rights in Iran. The strenuous resistance of the Iranian population against the unbearable violence and arbitrary killings of Ali Khamenei’s regime cannot be ignored by the free world. “It was September 16, 2022 when Masha Amini, a young Kurdish girl, was killed in Tehran while she was in the custody of the moral police. Since then, thousands of people have peacefully demonstrated against the Islamic regime in Iran, which has responded with violence and atrocities – write the authors of the campaign change.org Woman Life and Freedom – More than 18,000 protesters have been arrested and dozens of them have already been killed or risk being executed. In this appeal we ask Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani to take a firm position towards the Iranian regime; we ask the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, to summon the Iranian ambassador, declaring him “persona non grata” and to recall our ambassador to Iran for consultations. We ask the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, to implement the Union’s initiatives to ensure fundamental rights in Iran”.

The mobilizations in Naples and Rome. The promoters of the petition and the first supportive flash mob of artists in Naples and then in Rome. “We are with the young Iranian men and women who fight for freedom, when you strike one of them you strike the whole of humanity”. The petition wanted by Marisa Laurito, with the promoters Luciano Stella, Tosca, Edoardo Bennato, Nino Daniele, Andrea Morinioli, Désirée Klain, Alfredo Guardiano, Tiziana Ciavardini, Gianni Pinto is urgent. They are calling for an end to executions and the release of arrested dissidents. The appeal leads to a demonstration on January 7 at 12 at the Trianon Theater in Naples: excerpts, songs and readings directed by Davide Iodice. The actors Marina Confalone, Patrizio Rispo, Marisa Laurito, Pegah Moshir Pour, the writer Valeria Parrella, the journalist and writer Gianni Valentino, the artists Lino Vairetti, Roberto Colella, Fiorenza Calogero, Tommaso Primo, Dario Sansone dei Foja, Marcello Cirillo and the Officine Gomitoli social cooperative. Participants Vincenzo De Luca, president of the Campania region, and Giuseppe Giulietti, president of the National Press Federation; representatives of academic institutions and the third sector participate; Amnesty International Italy, represented by Tina Marinari campaign coordinator, is in Naples together with the association for the freedom of the press Article 21. A new event is planned for January 21 in Rome, at 5 pm, at the Pasolini Workshop.

The horrors in Iran. “We are aware of numerous mutilations, sexual violence, mass rapes, organs removed, corpses not handed over to family members and buried in unknown places – the petition continues – We know of unfair trials without appeal, without lawyers, without witnesses and without evidence. Young people declared dead by suicide, but with evident signs of beatings and bone fractures. We have seen photos of minors killed, of boys and girls poisoned in university canteens, of protesters shot in the face or genitals, of men and women without eyes, hit by bullets. We know of funerals that were not granted and of numerous people who disappeared just for having requested news of their loved ones. We know of the use of drugs by the security forces to beat the rioters more violently”.

“The only salvation is to fight for freedom”. Marisa Laurito: “I’m not special, if you have a minimum of sensitivity you can’t stand still in the face of such atrocious violence like the ones that have been taking place for months in Iran – says the actress – I would never have imagined that from this idea simple such a large mobilization would have been born. The collection of signatures must be expanded as much as possible, so that international institutions intervene drastically against the suppression of freedoms in Iran and the unheard-of violence suffered by the entire Iranian population”.