Protest at the Iranian Embassy in Rome, July 25, 2009

From 17:00 to 20:00 this evening there was a protest in front of the Iranian Embassy in Rome.  There were many Iranians as well as Italians and others there in solidarity with the Iranian people.  It was a peaceful, but very vocal protest.

A line of policemen stood in front of the embassy and another line stood in front of the protesters.  They were not allowed across the street except for a few minutes in which they laid out photos on the ground in front of the embassy gate.  The photos were of some of the young people who had been killed during the protests in Iran.

The young man I interviewed was one of the organizers of the event.   He lives in Italy now.

The fact that so many hid their faces really brought home the lack of freedom they have and the fear they must feel for themselves and their families.  But they came out anyway. There was some anger at Nokia for reports that they had given the Iranian government the tools they needed to spy on their own people.

It was very moving to see photos of the faces of the dead being carried by the living.

I subtitled most of the singing and speaking that was done in Italian.  I put some  still photos at iReport http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-304005