ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A Spanish man trekking from Spain to Qatar for the FIFA World Cup has been reportedly arrested in Iran after visiting the grave of Mahsa (Zhina) Amini, the young Kurdish woman whose death sparked nationwide protests, a rights group reported on Tuesday.
Santiago Sanchez, 41, Spanish national has been missing for approximately three weeks, around the same time he crossed into Iran. His family told AP that they had last heard from him on October 2.
Hengaw Organization for Human Rights reported that the 41-year-old Santiago Sanchez was detained by Iran’s intelligence ministry forces in Saqqez after visiting Amini’s resting place. According to them, Sanchez was accompanied by an Iranian citizen working as his translator, who was also arrested.
Sanchez was documenting his journey from Madrid to Doha and his last Instagram post on October 1 shows him and local Kurdish people enjoying a traditional meal in a village in the Kurdistan Region captioned as “this is the last village in northern Iraq… a mountain separates me and Iran, the country before arriving in Qatar.”
Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) also said on Wednesday that two people released from the same detention center said they had seen Sanchez in one of the cells.
There is no information on the date of his reported detention. There has been no official confirmation from Iranian authorities.
The honorary consulate of the Kingdom of Spain to the Kurdistan Region confirmed to Rudaw English on Wednesday that Sanchez crossed the border into Iran. Rudaw English also reached out to the Spanish consulate to Tehran but they were unable to provide further information.
Amini, 22, died three days after her arrest by the notorious morality police in Tehran for allegedly breaching the Islamic republic's strict dress code for women by wearing a lax hijab. Her death sparked national unrest and international outrage with protests and condemnation from around the globe.
By Zheen Saman
