Alessia Piperno, the Italian blogger who was arrested in Iran and does not know if she will be able to go out again

An Italian woman is the new victim of repressive policies during the protests in Iran. It is about Alessia Piperno, a traveler who was celebrating her birthday in the Persian country when she was detained by the Iranian authorities, who still do not give an answer about her whereabouts.

“I have been arrested in Tehran. Please help me ”, was what her parents heard on the morning of Sunday, October 2, when Alessia was able to communicate with them through a phone call. According to her relatives, the woman had not shown signs of life since Wednesday, September 28, the day of her birthday. “I’m fine, but there are people here who say that they’ve been detained for months for no reason, I’m afraid I won’t be able to get out again, help me,” Alessia told her parents, Alberto and Miriam.

Alberto remembers that the last communication he had with his daughter, before learning of her arrest, was Wednesday morning when he called her to congratulate her. “He was happy, he was waiting for his friends to leave the shelter so they could all go together to celebrate his birthday with a picnic, where he would spend the day with a French friend, a Polish friend and an Iranian girl,” Piperno told the ANSA agency.

Having no more news of their daughter, her parents thought it might be the connection. “If she hadn’t called, we would have gone to the police station anyway because in six years of traveling the world she had never gone so long without showing signs of life,” they said. Her concern also led them to post her photo on social media, content that has since been removed at the direction of the authorities.

“This girl is Alessia Piperno and she is my daughter. She is a solitary traveler, she travels the world to learn about the customs and traditions of the peoples. She has always adapted and respected the traditions and obligations of each country she visits. We haven’t heard from her in 4 days, since she turned 30 on September 28. Her last access to her cell phone also bears that date. This morning she called us crying and she told us that she was in jail. in Tehran. in Iran. She was arrested along with her friends when she was preparing to celebrate her birthday. It was just a few words but desperate. She was asking for help. We immediately called the Italian Embassy in Tehran. But we still don’t know anything, not even the reason for the imprisonment,” the post said.

Alberto and Miriam also contacted the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which is following their case, and Italian politicians who have expressed themselves on networks. “We follow the news of Alessia Piperno with apprehension and we send all our closeness to her family and loved ones,” wrote Giorgia Meloni, winner of the general elections on September 25 and probably the future Italian prime minister. “We wish to return Alessia home as soon as possible,” Rome Mayor Roberto Gualtieri tweeted.

Alessia Piperno’s blogs

The Italian had a strong inclination to travel, her parents say. Alessia had been traveling the world for 6 years, visiting countries such as Iceland, Australia, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama, and working remotely as a travel organizer and secretary.

“Our daughter is a girl moved by the love of learning about cultures and peoples. Her happiness is in traveling. She can get by in all situations, but she is not reckless. On the contrary, she is always very attentive and animated by great moral rigor. She doesn’t touch alcohol, let alone drugs. For this reason, even more so, we do not know how to explain what has happened,” Alberto and Miriam said.

In an Instagram post by Alessia, the traveler spoke about the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old girl who was arrested for not wearing the traditional hijab correctly.

“22-year-old girl killed by Iranian police for not wearing hijab properly. The truth is that that girl could have been me, or my friend Hanieh, or one of those women I met on this trip. Hijab in Iran is not synonymous with religion, it is synonymous with government. Every woman should shed her femininity, hide those beautiful facial features and body shapes of hers, so as not to risk ending up in prison, or worse, being flogged 70 times. I grew up believing that these things happened in a land far away from me, and that they would never touch me. But now that I have been here for more than two months, I feel part of everything, I feel part of these girls who fight for their rights, who demonstrate for their freedom, but who are ultimately forced to hide in a blind spot, ”he wrote. she.

“Yesterday thousands of people gathered in the main squares of many cities in Iran, to protest, because you can’t die at 22 because you don’t wear the hijab correctly. Because even before we are women, we are human beings. And the desire to feel free cannot die, free to dance, to sing under the stars, free to run with hair blowing in the wind, throwing veils to the sky. Here are fairy tales that live in the hearts of girls, in the stories that flow in their minds, waiting to emerge one day in real life. You, Iranian woman, deserve every bit of happiness, every smile, every dance in the universe, and every joy contained in your heart. Hoping that every fairy tale that lives in your mind will one day come true, just like you are,” Alessia concluded.

(YO)