| Native name | حدیث نجفی |
|---|---|
| Date | 21 September 2022 |
| Location | Karaj, Iran |
| Cause | shot six times by Iranian security forces during protest[1] |
| Deaths | Hadis Najafi killed in Mahsa Amini protests |
| Burial | Behesht-e Sakineh cemetery, Karaj, Iran |
Hadis Najafi (Persian: حدیث نجفی) (January 5, 2000 – September 21, 2022) was an Iranian woman who was killed by the military forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Mehrshahr, Karaj during the 2022 Iranian protests. She was one of the prominent participants in the protests after the murder of Mahsa Amini. Hadis Najafi has become an icon or symbol [2][3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] of the protests in the 2022 Iranian revolt which were ignited by the death of Mahsa Amini [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] .[15] Number of the twitter hashtags directly related to Najafi's death reached to millions. Her family members specially her father were under pressure from state authorities to accept that she had died of natural causes.[16] Information and disinformation spread about Hadis Najafi and her death in national and international media are covered very fast worldwide.
She was born in Karaj. Hadis Najafi worked in a restaurant located in Eram alley of Mehrshahr district of Karaj. She had three older sisters and one younger brother and was the fourth child in the family. She had a diploma in sewing design.[17]
She has participated in the 2022 Iranian protests in Karaj city. She was shot during the pretests in the face, neck and chest by the security forces on September 21, 2022, around 20:00, in Eram street of Mehrshahr district of Karaj and died of his injuries. Her family was pressured to accept the natural death of their daughter. She is buried at night.[18] [5] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] According to her family her "face and body were hit by more than 20 shotgun pellets". Najafis family, who said that the body was "full of holes... when they opened the coffin for burial", also said that they had been pressured by certain authorities to say that Hadis Najafi had died of natural causes.[25]
According to Hadis Najafi's mother, her daughter went to the street to protest against what happened to Mahsa Amini and against the forced hijab, and she added that her family was under pressure from the security forces during this time. She said her daughter was killed because of the hijab and because of Mahsa Amini. According to her Hadis Najafi went to protest and was killed, hit by bullets, in her heart, in her stomach, in her neck. When we looked at her body, her face and body were bruised. In the Qa'em Hospital of Karaj city family of Hadis Najafi could not receives her body. The authorities refused to give them her body and refused to tell them where to find her body.[15][18]
Her family were not allowed to see her body for days. Shortly after her death, her family posted tributes to her, and her image went viral worldwide. Shirin, Hadis's sister, later shared footage of her family gathered at her grave, clutching photographs of her.[15] Security forces and authorities have pressured her father to accept that she died due to stroke and brain death.[17]
Hadis Najfi's sister said in an interview: "Even when the body was handed over to my father, they insulted him and pushed him, but he did not agree to give a pledge, and in order to silence him, they gave him strong tranquilizers so that he could not even walk or speak"[26].
Hadis Najafi is considered to be one of the symbols of the protests beside Mahsa Amini.[2] [3] [4] [5] Mahsa Amini is the symbol of the oppression of the nation and Hadis Najafi is the symbol of courage and bravery of the young Iranian generation.[27]
During the protests after the killing of Mahsa Amini, a 6-second long video filmed from behind of a girl tying her hair with a branch to the protest was widely watched on social networks. Since the 25th of September the video had been shared by countless media outlets and reported as being of Hadis Najafi. Hadis Najafis family told Radio Zamaneh that the girl appearing in the video did from behind of head hair look similar to Najafi, but it is not her. BBC Persian was in conact with the actual girl in the video and she sent them a video message identifying herself and saying: "I'm not Hadis Najafi"; she also added: "I fight for women like Hadis and Mahsa."[28][25]
Some sources claimed to be close to opposition and protesters assert at the initial phase of spreading the news of Hadis Najafi's death that she is not dead or there is no real Hadis Najafi at all. They claimed family of Hadis Najafi are related to the government and to the state authorities and that Hadis Najafis alleged death is a new show and game of the government authorities to divert and stop the protests with disinformation war. Some of them considered Hadis Najafi as the new Taraneh Mousavi who said to be killed for protesting the 2009 election results who considered to be a fake person.[29] The disinformation about Hadis Najafi and her family caused reaction of her mother and her sister so that they denied any cooperation with the government authorities; they have spoken about increasing pressure against them in social media and asked people to stop insulting them and to stop pressure against them and to stop spreading disinformation and unfair information about Hadis and the family [30]
Many state controlled media and media close to the government in Iran claimed initially that Hadis Najafi is not dead or she came again alive. [31] [32] [33] [34] [35] They claimed later that Hadis Najafi is indeed dead, but the killers are the protesters themselves.[36]
Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting has interviewed Hadis Najafi's father couple of days after her death and aired it in news program of 20:30 and Alborz TV channel. Her father said in the interview that his daughter was an artist and knew nothing about politics. He said: "I saw the dead body of my child with my eyes; those who called for protests and chaos through foreign media are responsible for my daughter's blood; they took my Hadis from me".[37] He added: "The people on the other side of the globe who are announcing and inviting to protests should themselves come to Iran and do and lead the protests. If they come here in Iran then we shall follow them and join the protests together with them. But they sat there and played with my daughter's thoughts and invited and sent the people to the protests. Who wants to revive my child?"[38]. Some observers consider this interview and his similar announcements are being done not freely but under pressure from authorities and security forces of state against him and other family members.[17]
Hadis Najafi's name is appeared in a list published by Amnesty International about the casualties of the protests.[5] Other human rights organizations have also reacted to the death of Hadis Najafi.[39][40]
Luciano Spalletti the head coach of Italian Serie A club Napoli brought two roses in memory of Mahsa Amini and Hadis Najafi in a press conference on the eve of the match against Turin on 30 September 2022.[41]