A Death In Tehran

I watched a Frontline episode that showed a video of a woman protester being shot in the back. Her name was Neda Agha Soltan.

During the July 2009 presidential elections state media announced an early result of the election in Ahmadinejad’s favor. Later the media confirmed that Ahmadinejad did win the election by a record breaking 63% margin. This election result caused many of Iran’s citizens to take to the streets in protest.

Immediately government riot police on motorcycles tried to take back the streets by the use of violence. All the while people using camera phones recorded the events as they took place. Frontline commented that this was a new form of resistance used by the protesters. A new way of immediately showing the world what was happening to the Iranian citizens and how they were being treated by their government.

Neta was part of the protesters and understood the dangers of taking to the streets but decided to join the crowds. As she walked with her music teacher she was shot in the back by a member of the Bisiji, a private so-called “paramilitary” hired by the Iranian government to suppress protesters. While she lay bleeding it was all captured on a camera phone and ultimately uploaded to the Internet. The first news agency to show the clip was CNN. CNN showed the clip while blocking out Neta’s face in order to show her respect. However Frontlines episode showed the same clip without blocking out her face.

The clip showing this woman dying in the street was difficult to watch however it was released with good justification. Showing her face was significant because it seemed as if she was looking at the person filming and saying to them “keep filming don't stop”. In other words in a way it seemed as if she knew that she was a martyr. Neta was a part of a major demonstration and she was a willing participant of the uprising. Neta knew that the supreme leader of Iran essentially gave the green light to the Bisiji members to open fire on citizens participating in protests.

Frontline says this was the most-watched video making it outside of Iran. The power of the video shows how Iran could not hide or spin this particular incident. Its power was so overwhelming that it shows in a brief instant the type of suppression the people of Iran must live with.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/tehranbureau/deathintehran/view/