Wearing her black abaya, Samira Abbas stands in front of a courthouse in Karbala, south of Baghdad, clearly and loudly asking for answers to questions that boggle her soul after her son, a leader in popular protests, Ihab al-Wazni, was killed by unknown gunmen on the side of the road last month.
The United Nations envoy to Iraq, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, visited the home of the mother of activist Ihab Al-Wazni, and apologized for the inappropriate behavior of the UN mission with her before the Karbala Appeals Court earlier this June. Read also Middle East Eye: An increasing tendency in Iraq to cover up the crimes of political assassination French Media part website: Who is behind the assassination of Iraqi elites?
“Before
For 3 consecutive days, Marwan followed in his 73-year-old mother’s footsteps to the court of justice, where she tried to set up a protest tent to highlight her son’s case, despite the scorching sun as the temperature exceeded 40 degrees Celsius.
Samira – near the court where people gathered to show her support – said that she is demanding justice for her son’s killers.
But the security forces were dismantling the tent every day, which led to quarrels and generated more frustration for the grieving mother, in scenes that passers-by recorded and posted on videos online.
On Wednesday, Samira did not pitch her tent, and her son, Marwan, told Reuters they were now plotting their next steps to maintain the momentum.
Iraqi Interior Ministry spokesman Khaled al-Muhanna told Reuters that Samira is allowed to demonstrate, but it is forbidden for anyone to set up a tent or anything else that obstructs the movement of people in public places, adding that investigations into Wazni’s killing are still ongoing.
In a hashtag entitled “We are all mothers of Ihab al-Wazni”, supporters on social media platforms praised the courage of the elderly woman, who also calls on the mothers of other dead civil society activists to raise their voices and publicly demand accountability and investigation.
international apology
In a remarkable step, the United Nations envoy to Iraq, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, visited the home of the mother of activist Ihab al-Wazni, and apologized for the inappropriate behavior of the UN mission with her before the Karbala Appeals Court earlier this month. The mother of the late activist.
Al-Wazzani was killed on the ninth of last May by unidentified gunmen who fired bullets while riding a motorcycle.
United Nations statistics indicate that at least 32 activists have been killed since 2019. Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi pledged to bring the perpetrators to justice after assuming power in May 2020, and there have been no successful trials to date in the killing of protesters.