Wednesday 24 June 2009

'This was exactly a massacre'

There are unconfirmed reports of massive violence today by Iranian security forces against demonstrators in Baharestan Square in Tehran.

Here's Azarmehr:
Despite all the security measures and the confusion on whether Moussavi has called for the people to gather outside the Islamic Assembly in Baharestan Sq or not, people have started to converge towards the square. Many are wearing black arm bands and holding pictures of Neda.

One girl has been shot already and not known whether she is alive or dead.
It gets much, much worse. CNN has a terrifying eye-witness account here (can't seem to embed the video at the moment). An extract from the transcript (via):
I was going towards Baharestan with my friend. This was everyone, not just supporters of one candidate or another. All of my friends, they were going to Baharestan to express our opposition to these killings and demanding freedom. The black-clad police stopped everyone. They emptied the buses that were taking people there and let the private cars go on. We went on until Ferdowsi then all of a sudden some 500 people with clubs came out of [undecipherable] mosque and they started beating everyone. They tried to beat everyone on [undecipherable] bridge and throwing them off of the bridge. And everyone also on the sidewalks. They beat a woman so savagely that she was drenched in blood and her husband, he fainted. They were beating people like hell. It was a massacre. They were trying to beat people so they would die. they were cursing and saying very bad words to everyone. This was exactly a massacre... 

Update
More evidence here (warning: extremely graphic images), including confirmation of reports that militia are using axes against male demonstrators and beating women with metal pipes.
Update 2
Finally managed to embed the video with the eyewitness account:

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