Aylar Haghi

Aylar Haghi (1999 – 16 November 2022) was an Iranian student killed by Iranian security forces during the Mahsa Amini protests in Tabriz, Iran.

Government officials and the media have denied her killing, claiming that she fell from a height. Initially, they pressured her family to say that Aylar had committed suicide. When the family refused to accept this, her father was detained by the security forces. As a form of pressure, they didn't release her body to the family for two days and did not permit her burial in her hometown, Malekand.

The burial and the 40-day memorial ceremony for Aylar Haghi took place at the Vadi-e Rahmat cemetery with the participation of citizens. Participants voiced slogans against the government, such as "We are all Aylar, the struggle continues", "Freedom, justice, national government" and "Azerbaijan doesn't sleep, Aylar's blood does not go in vain". Both ceremonies were disrupted by the intervention of security forces. People were beaten and arrested during these incidents.

After Aylar Haghi's killing, protests intensified in the East Azerbaijan province. Protests and actions took place in the cities of Tabriz, Bonab, Malekan and Ardabil, and at Tabriz Azad University where Aylar studied. Several protestors were arrested during these demonstrations.

On 28 November 2022, young girls in the Republic of Azerbaijan organized a flash mob in memory of the people fighting for women's rights in Iran and in memory of Azerbaijani girls killed there, including Hadis Najafi, Asra Panahi, and Aylar Haghi.

Biography Aylar Haghi was born in 1999 in the city of Malekan to an Azerbaijani family.

Killing Haghi participated in the anti-government protest that took place in Tabriz on 16 November 2022, as part of the Mahsa Amini protests. Government forces began to disperse the demonstrations by using violence. After the intervention of the police, Haghi took refuge in a building to escape the violence. Several officers who were chasing her followed her into the building and shot her in the back of the head, killing her. Her body was then thrown from a high-rise building.

Security agents later pressured Haghi's family to say that she had intentionally fallen from the building in an act of suicide. The government had made similar claims following the deaths of other protesters. After her family refused to accept the suicide story, her father, Rajab Haghi, was detained by the security forces.

Burial Haghi's family wanted to bury her in Malekan, where she was born, but they were not allowed to do so. Haghi's father, Rajab Haghi, was pressured to hold the funeral ceremony in Tabriz quietly and not publicise it. such as "We are all Aylars, the struggle continues", "Freedom, justice, the national government" and arrested several people. In addition, Professor Shamsi Abbasalizadeh of Tabriz University of Medical Sciences was suspended for attending Haghi's funeral.

On 27 December 2022, the 40-day memorial ceremony for Aylar Haghi took place. Participants at the ceremony chanted anti-government slogans such as "We are all Aylar, we demand freedom," "Azerbaijan doesn’t sleep", Aylar's blood does not go in vain," "Khamenei is a murderer, the government is untrustworthy," and "Death to the dictator". in which security forces beat attendees with batons. Haghi's parents and several others were arrested.

Legacy Aylar Haghi's killing escalated protests in East Azerbaijan province. Strong protests and demonstrations took place in Tabriz, Bonab, and Malekan, where Haghi was born.

On 28 November 2022, young girls in Azerbaijan organized a flash mob in memory of those fighting for women's rights in Iran and the Azerbaijani girls killed there, including Hadis Najafi, Asra Panahi, and Aylar Haghi. At the end of the flash mob, images of Haghi and other slain Azerbaijanis were displayed, accompanied by the message "We know, we are with you!".

On 20 February 2023, slogans like "Aylar Haghi," "You can erase our slogans from walls, not the traces of blood," "Death to Khamenei," and "Death to the dictator" were written on walls in the streets of Tabriz.