Narrator now on frontline, inside the iranian uprising. Frontline is made possible by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. And by the corporation for public broadcasting. Additional support is provided by the abrams foundation, committed to excellence in journalism. Park foundation dedicated to heightening Public Awareness of critical issues. The john d. And catherine t. Macarthur foundation committed to building a more just, verdant and peaceful world. More at macfound. Org. And by the frontline Journalism Fund with major support from jon and jo ann hagler. And Additional Support from koo and patricia yuen, committed to bridging cultural differences in our communities. waves lapping narrator this is iran. A country where young people film and share their lives every day on social media. crowd chanting in farsi narrator this is also iran, an Islamic Republic ruled by a supreme religious leader, ayatollah ali khamenei. In september 2022, antigovernment protests swept across the coountry after the death of a young woman in police custody. chanting in farsi guns firing narrator in the crackdown that followed, human Rights Groups estimate more than 500 iranians have been killed, including 72 children. chanting in farsi narrator since the start, young iranians have been filming the violence themselves and posting it online. weapon firing, people screaming independent and foreign media are largely banned here, but frontline has been able to gather and review over a hundred hours of this footage, crosschecking it with testimony from eyewitnesses and protesters. The sound of the guy breathing while he raped me still echoes in my ears. Narrator . And following activists and exiles who are trying to expose what is happening in iran. shouting and cheering speaking farsi screams paintball gun fires speaking farsi narrator awin mostafazadeh is a human rights activist who fled iran in 2007. For years, her organization has been working with reporters and other activists inside iran, documenting abuses against the kurdish minority. On september 13, 2022, she got news from tehran that a young kurdish woman named Mahsa Zhina Amini was in a coma after being beaten by irans Morality Police. speaking farsi device beeps, object bumping in video narrator mahsa, who was also known by her kurdish name, zhina, was 22 years old and about to start university. Shed come to tehran on a day trip. The Morality Police enforcers of irans islamic dress code had arrested her accusing her of not being covered appropriately. As word spread, people began to gather near the hospital. Some were filming on their phones. shouting speaking farsi continues shouting, woman sobbing woman 1 shouting in video speaking farsi traffic humming, car horn honks narrator shiva nazarahari is a human rights activist who was jailed four times in iran for antigovernment activities. She fled the country in 2018, and has been working from exile in europe. She agreed to let us film her gathering testimony about what happened after mahsa amini fell into a coma. speaking farsi compact shuts speaking farsi laughs narrator leyla is speaking from inside iran. speaking farsi leyla narrator leyla says she rushed to the hospital after she saw the photo of mahsa amini in a coma on instagram, and found the crowd of protesters gatherin there. The scene was captured on footage we obtained. Leyla narrator on september 16, news got out that mahsa amini had died. A female journalist got into the hospital and photographed her grieving relatives. The picture spread quickly on twitter. speaking farsi narrator the iranian government did not grant any interviews for this film, or respond to a list of questions. Shortly after mahsa aminis death, tehrans Police Released edited cctv footage of her collapsing at a police station. They denied beating her and said shed had a heart attack, and theyd done everything to keep her alive. speaking farsi woman screaming, man shouting narrator before her death, videos showing abuses by the Morality Police had been circulating on iranian social media, fueling resentment against the regime. In some cases, the government said it had punished officers involved. speaking farsi woman screaming speaking farsi speaking farsi crowd chanting in kurdish sobbing, speaking kurdish crowd chanting in kurdish narrator at the funeral in the kurdish town of saqqez, mourners began to chant, woman, life, freedom. crowd chanting it would become the slogan of a new movement which would quickly spread beyond the kurdish minority and rally women across the country. speaking farsi crowd chanting in kurdish crowd cheering and applauding narrator after footage of the funeral spread on social media, women took to the streets, filming their own acts of defiance. speaking farsi speaking farsi car horns honking, people whistling narrator the protests began to spread around the country. chanting in farsi narrator in the weeks that followed, women across iran removed their hijabs. car horns honking speaking farsi crowd cheering and applauding crowd cheering in video crowd clapping in rhythm and chanting crowd cheers and applauds crowd chanting in farsi crowd cheers and applauds narrator before iran became an Islamic Republic, it was ruled by the westernbacked Shah Mohammad reza pahlavi. His regime was repressive, and employed a brutal Security Service that imprisoned opponents. But women had the right to dress freely and be a substantial part of the workforce. glass shatters bottles clinking crowd chanting in farsi after a revolution in 1979, Ayatollah Khomeini took power and the constitution was rewritten to reflect islamic law. crowd chanting in farsi the hijab was made compulsory for all women in public. In iran, women marched in support of a modern identity. chanting in farsi the shah pued the chador down by force. These people are putting it up by force. Men eventually attacked the protesters. Several of the women who stood their ground with considerable courage were stabbed. chanting in farsi narrator in the decades that followed, women have repeatedly risen up in protest. chanting in farsi narrator but iran remains an authoritarian Islamic State under a Supreme Leader, ayatollah ali khamenei, who has refused to grant women more freedoms. After the death of mahsa amini, he dismissed the protests as a plot by irans enemies. speaking farsi crowd shouting cheering cheering loudly, applauding narrator iranian authorities said they were investigating what happened to mahsa amini. chanting in farsi narrator but the unrest continued to spread. Protesters were burnins and sharing the footage with the world. crowd chanting in farsi speaking farsi speaking farsi crowd cheers and applauds chanting in farsi speaking farsi crowd cheers and applauds narrator Zar Amir Ebrahimi was once a famous tv actor in iran. In 2008, she fled the country after a private intimate video was leaked. She was sentenced to 99 lashes and banned from appearing on television. audience cheers and applauds she is now an International Movie star. speaking farsi people talking in background narrator zar has been gathering testimony from inside iran about the uprising, and sharing it with journalists and human rights organizations. speaking farsi speaking farsi narrator nasrin had a teenage daughter, nika. speaking farsi speaking farsi laughing with audience singing, audience clapping d cheering stops singing, laughing singing girl talking from audience resumes singing speaking farsi singing softly and babbling speaking farsi in video speaking farsi speaking farsi in interview chanting in farsi narrator on september 20, nika joined a protest in tehran. Footage weve verified shows her waving her headscarf and setting it on fire. crowd chanting and cheering chanting continues speaking farsi crowd cheering narrator more footage shot that day shows nika throwing rocks in the direction of the police. Another clip, recorded that night, shows nika still at the protest, taking cover behind a car. speaking farsi narrator nikas family says her instagram and telegramccounts were deleted that night. They began to search for her, and told the authorities she was missing. speaking farsi sighs narrator nikas death certificate stated that she died due to multiple injuries caused by the impact of a hard object. Cnn has looked at the final hours of iranian teenager nika shakarami, who was among the many protesters on the streets days after aminis death. Narrator her death became an International News story. The authorities denied any wrongdoing, but gave conflicting accounts. First, they told her family shed been killed by an opposition group. Then state media published cctv footage purporting to show nika entering a building after the protest. speaking farsi narrator they claimed she later jumped, or was pushed, off the roof. speaking farsi chanting in farsi, clapping in rhythm speaking farsi in interview pple clamoring, car horns honking narrator the regime went on the offensive. siren wailing in distance people screaming, weapons firing according to a leaked iranian army document, on september 21, Security Units across the country were given an order to severely and seriously confront rioters. people shouting the authorities began to round up journalists. They arrested the reporter who had published the photo of mahsa aminis grieving family, and her twitter account was suspended. They also began to restrict internet cess across the country. speaking farsi speaking farsi woman device buzzes, people shouting narrator . And to remove footage of the uprising from social media sites by forcing protesters to close their accounts. people shouting weapon fires gun fires speaking farsi guns firing narrator but videos of the crackdown continued to spread. men shouting speaking farsi shouting continues woman screaming gasps, speaking farsi speaking farsi vehicle horns honking, protesters clamoring narrator this clip s filmed on the night of september 21. honking continues motorbike engine revving speaking farsi people shouting and whistling, traffic humming video continues horns honking, man speaking farsi gun fires narrator the man was identified by iranian activists as pooria alipour, a 30yearold building engineer. He survived the attack. Iranian police have said they are investigating the video and that the offending Police Officers will certainly be dealt with according to the law. speaking farsi speaking farsi, laughs laughs narrator Sarina Esmailzadeh was a teenage youtuber from the city of karaj. Her videos were about food, makeup, and music. speaking farsi cheers speaking farsi speaki farsi narrator in the months before the uprising, some of sarinas posts were about politics. speaking farsi tone beeps protesters chanting narrator when the protests reached sarinas home city, the authorities responded with force. Footage filmed there during the early days of the uprising Shows Security forces beating people on the streets. firing woman chanting, cars honking on september 22, sarina joined one of the protest. people shouting weapon firing she never returned. Human Rights Groups say that sarina died of head injuries, like nika. Eyewitnesses told local activists she was beaten to death with police batons. The authorities said she jumped off a building. speaking farsi speaking farsi tone beeping chanting in farsi speaking farsi narrator as news of the deaths of sarina and nika spread, something remarkable happened. Schoolgirls across iran began to hold protests of their own. girls chanting in farsi despite internet blackouts imposed by the government, videos went viral showing extraordinary acts of defiance. Schoolgirls filmed and shared footage of themselves defacing pictures of the Supreme Leader a c speaking farsi aw. speaking farsi cheering chanting in farsi speaking farsi girls shouting in farsi narrator in sadra high school in karaj, the students chased away a government official. girls chanting chanting cheering speaking farsi chanting in farsi speaking farsi chanting in farsi car horns honking speaking farsi car horns honking speaking farsi okay. Narrator even in exile, the kurdish activist awin mostafazadeh is often on the move between safe houses. She fears she could be arrested and forcibly returned to iran. door unlocking speaking farsi car horns honking narrator from the very beginning, irans kurdistan province was the epicenter of the uprising. Mahsa aminis death had inflamed longheld grievances here. For decades, iranian kurds have accused the regime of discrimination. Amid escalating clashes between protesters and Security Forces the regime launched a series of offensives in the kurdish areas. Awin has been gathering evidence about what happened. clapping in rhythm, chanting speaking farsi narrator yahya, who is now in exile, was one of the protest leaders in the city of mahabad. sirens wailing speaking farsi guns firing man shouting in world language speaking farsi weapons firing man exclaimin in world language weapons firing woman screams in distance automatic guns firing, woman gasping softly sobbing guns fire, people screaming in distance speaking farsi guns firing narrator in a statement at the time, irans revolutionary guard said it was confronting terrorist separatist groups in the kurdish areas, and that dealing decisively with terrorists is our mandate. explosion pounds in distance guns firing, man panting man murmuring guns firing, man panting so far, awin says she has confirmed the deaths of at least 125 protesters in kurdish cities since the start of the crackdown. Shes been talking to eyewitnesses like keivan, a medical student. He was working with a team of volunteers to treat wounded protesters, and has since fled iran. speaking farsi narrator keivan says he was arrested for helping the protesters and taken to a secret detention center. His account of what happened next is horrific. speaking farsi eaking farsi speaking farsi narrator iran has denied abusing prisoners, but keivans account echoes the testimony of many other detainees. Since the beginning of the uprising, thousands of protesters have been arrested and locked up in regime black sites or police stations, like the one in this video from the city of karaj, posted online in september. Narrator zar is taking the testimony of a man who is still inside iran and asked for his identity to be concealed. He says he was held in a black site in the northwest of of the country after being arrest at a protest in october. speaking farsi sniffles narrator in november, the crackdown escalated. speaking farsi audience responding narrator the regime began to prosecute protesters. Many were charged with the religious crime of moharebeh waging war against god. singing in farsi, guitar playing speaking farsi narrator in his trial, he was also accused of blocking a road and attacking a regime militiaman. Mohsen was convicted of waging war against god and was executed by hanging on the morning of december 8. wailing in farsi screaming sobbing narrator footage from that day shows a Family Member mourning his death. The video went viral. chanting in farsi speaking farsi narrator by the summer of 2023, seven protesters had been executed some convicted of killing Security Forces. Seven others were on death row. Across iran today, the mass street protests have died down for now. man singing narrator but the uprising continues with hundreds of small acts of defiance. Whooo music fades narrator families of the dead continue to speak out, despite the risks. speaking farsi sighs speaking farsi go to pbs. Org frontline. speaking farsi for more of our reporting on iran. Id been tracking the rise in power of the shia militias and their ties to iran for years. And visit the entire frontline archive where you can stream more than 300 documentaries. Connect with frontline on facebook, instagram and twitter and stream anytime on the pbs app, youtube or pbs. Org frontline. They gave me life in prison. If you had been incarcerated three years or less prior and they decide to enact the statue, youre automatically sentenced to the statutory maximum. Narrator in collaboration with the marshall project. Sort of two strikes and youre out, if you will. Narrator two exclusive stories. We have between 45 to 50 pregnant women in and out tutwiler in a years time. We all had little riders with us. Narrator from inside the prison system. Were almost to the end of this, ill see you soon. Frontline is made possible by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. And by the corporation for public broadcasting. Additional support is provided by the abrams foundation, committed to excellence in journalism. Park foundation dedicated to heightening Public Awareness of critical issues. The john d. And catherine t. Macarthur foundation committed to building a more just, verdant and peaceful world. More at macfound. Org. And by the frontline Journalism Fund with major support from jon and jo ann hagler. And Additional Support from koo and patricia yuen, committed to bridging cultural differences in our communities. Captioned by Media Access Group at wgbh access. Wgbh. Org. For more on this and other frontline programs visit our website at pbs. Org frontline. Frontlines inside the iranian uprising is available on amazon prime video. Youre watching pbs. [latria] i love this place and i hate this place, like i am this place, you know. [john] i found my freedom here in the deepest dankest mud of the mississippi river. [latria] i will come and sit here for five minutes and i go back and i have to put my armor on and go back to work. [mark] this river is a lifesaver for me, man, it has become my church. You know i think everybody has something in their life that changes them. [ambient music] [male announcer] support for reel south is provided by additional funding for stay here awhile is provided by