‘We have to be a voice’: Downtown Vancouver protest against Iranian regime

In a demonstration outside of the Vancouver Art Gallery on Saturday, people built a wall of pictures displaying victims who were killed by the Iranian regime.

The regime has been the target of many protests across the country since the killing of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody.

Dozens gathered on Saturday, hoping that the protests will held shed light on the violence happening in the country, and calling for current rulers to be removed from power.

“We have to be voice for all those Iranian people to get rid of them,” protester Abby Valibigi said.

In a demonstration outside of the Vancouver Art Gallery on Saturday, protesters built a wall of pictures displaying victims who were killed by the Iranian regime, Nov. 12, 2022 (Angela Bower/CityNews)

He explains the pictures are of people who died in protests against the government.

“These are the people who got killed by the Iranian government in demonstrating against the government of Iran, which they want to have freedom and [have not had] it for 42 years,” he said.

He adds that people are fighting to, “Stop killing, torturing abusing everybody in Iran,” something he says has been going on for decades.

“In 1988, 30,000 of the young generation were arrested and they put them into jail. They were in the jail for 10 years, and they executed them all,” he said.

“Down with the Islamic Republic of Iran,” a protester holds up a sign in protest of the Iranian regime. Nov. 12, 2022 (Angela Bower/CityNews)

One protester says her journey with the regime began decades ago with the death of her brother.

“My brother was one of those people, who at age 18, for three weeks he was tortured, he was butchered,” Pari Tarverdian said.

“They [charged] us for the bullet they executed him with,” she added.

Over 40 years later, Tarverdian says his death was a lifechanging event.

Protesters gathered outside of the Vancouver Art Gallery on Saturday to demonstrate against the Iranian regime. Nov. 12, 2022 (Angela Bower/CityNews)

“He was the one who opened our eyes [to] what’s happening inside Iran.”

But Tarverdian’s isn’t the only family impacted. Protestor Zohreh Ebadi’s father was put in jail when she was seven years old.

“My dad was a prisoner for 19 years…because he didn’t like the unfair[ness],” Ebadi said.

She says her father wanted justice and freedom for the people of Iran — a legacy Ebadi has carried on.

Almost 40 years later, Ebadi says that the father of one of her friends was recently excecuted.

“I know so many people killed by the Iranian regime,” she explained.

According to the group Human Rights Activists in Iran, at least 270 people have been killed, and 14,000 have been arrested in the protests that have swept over 125 Iranian cities.

With files from Greg Bowman