DailyExpertNews
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For months Leila has hardly seen any sunlight.
“I miss being out in the open… I miss being able to walk free,” she told DailyExpertNews. “I miss my family, my room.”
Her life now largely takes place within four walls, in a house that is not her own, with people she had never met until a few weeks ago.
Leila has been in the crosshairs of the Iranian government for years for her work as a civil rights activist and grassroots organizer. She was forced into hiding in September when an arrest warrant was issued against her following the outbreak of nationwide protests over the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, a young woman accused of violating the country’s mandatory hijab laws.
Since then, with security forces pursuing her home and family, Leila has sought refuge in strangers’ homes. An anonymous network of concerned citizens — “ordinary people” connected by a shared mission to protect protesters — quietly supporting the movement from afar by offering their homes to activists in need.
It’s impossible to know exactly how many protesters are being sheltered in Iran, but DailyExpertNews has spoken to several people who, like Leila, have left their homes and families behind to escape what has become an increasingly violent state crackdown.
Leila tells her own story, and the stories of those who bravely hid her show that alongside the extraordinary displays of public anger unfolding in the streets of Iran, “the struggle against the regime continues in various forms.”
“I arrived here in the middle of the night. It was dark. I don’t even know where I am and my family doesn’t know either,” she said of her current location.
Leila — who has spent time in some of Iran’s most notorious prisons for her activism — has long given a voice to those the regime would rather silence, advocating for political prisoners and protesters to be executed.
DailyExpertNews has verified documents, videos, testimonies and statements from inside the country indicating that at least 43 people in connection with the current protests face execution in Iran.
With only a burner phone and a VPN, Leila continues her work today, communicating with protesters in prison and families with loved ones on death row. She shares their stories on social media, trying to keep them safe and alive.
“The responses and messages I get are very encouraging. People feel good to see that I’m active now and that I’m with them [during this uprising].”
But as time goes on, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards seem to be doubling down on their hunt for Leila.
“Every day, a car with two passengers is constantly stationed in front of my family’s house… They have repeatedly arrested some of my relatives and friends. During their interrogations, they ask: “Where is Leila? Where is she hiding?”
To talk to her loved ones, Leila relies on third parties to relay notes through encrypted messaging services, using code words in case Iranian security forces eavesdrop on their conversations.
“There are eavesdropping devices in our house,” she said. “That’s why I never call my family again.”
For years, Leila’s life has been on pause – punctuated by periods of imprisonment and lengthy interrogations – all at the hands of the Islamic Republic’s notorious security apparatus.
“I was psychologically tortured, kept in solitary confinement. They threatened and humiliated me every day.”
Over the past five years, Iran has been gripped by waves of demonstrations over issues ranging from economic mismanagement and corruption to civil rights. One of the most visible expressions of public anger was in 2019, when rising gas prices led to a large-scale uprising that was quickly met with deadly violence.
Before the recent protests sparked by Amini’s death — seen by many as the biggest threat the regime has faced to date — Leila attempted to rebuild the city.
“When I got out of prison, life was very hard for me, but I tried to create little outlets for myself.”
She had started a local business, enrolled in a college course, and worked with a therapist to get back to normal life and deal with the trauma of years of incarceration.
That all changed within days of Amini’s death, when Leila knew she had to once again take an active role in the protests that filled the streets across the country with chants of “Women, Life, Freedom.”
She and her family began participating in marches – sharing the names and stories of protesters who were detained on her social media.
Almost immediately, threats from the Iranian authorities to return Leila to prison began again – and then the order came.
“They wanted to silence me as soon as the uprising happened after Mahsa Amini was killed…I knew that if I wanted to stay and continue my activities, I would have to hide myself from their eyes.”
Countless Iranians have been forced to cross borders to flee Iranian security forces. However, Leila took a leap of faith and decided to go underground, after a ‘trusted friend’ she met through a network of activists gave her her first safe house.
The ride took hours and there was only darkness.
“I wore a mask. I lay down in the car so no one would notice me. I didn’t even get out to go to the toilet or eat.”
In the weeks and months that followed, she kept moving. Smuggled through the night, without knowing her final destination.
“The first place I went, the homeowner was very scared, so I ended up moving to another location.”
“[Another] person I stayed with was very nice and supportive of my efforts,” she said.
To live completely off-the-grid, Leila no longer picks up her meds or checks in with doctors or medical professionals.
She also lost access to her bank account, going so far as to exchange her savings for gold, which someone sells for her from time to time when she urgently needs cash.
As is the case for so many ordinary Iranians who are the driving force behind the protests, Leila’s life is “virtually at a standstill.”
“I just breathe and work.”
“I am not afraid of prison. Maybe a lot of people think we were afraid and that’s why we were hiding, but that’s not the case.”
“The only thing I fear is that if I get caught and sent back to prison, I will become an anonymous name…unable to help the cause and movement like countless others who have been sent to prison and never heard from again.”
For now, Leila says the only thing keeping her going as weeks of hiding turn into months is the distant hope that she can one day live in a free Iran.
“The response of the Islamic Republic has always been repression and violence… I hope for a miracle and that this situation will end in favor of the people as soon as possible.”
“Just like when I was in prison and solitary confinement, I improve myself with the hope of freedom,” she said.