NCRI – Chair of ‘Friends of a Free Iran’ intergroup in European Parliament, Mr. Struan Stevenson MEP, issued a press release today denouncing the planned visit to the Parliament by mullahs’ foreign minister. The press release follows:
Press release
Brussels-26 May 2010
Friends of a Free Iran condemn the visit of Iranian regime's minister
Friends of a Free Iran intergroup in the European Parliament, which has the support of many MEPs from different political groups and parties, condemns the planned visit of Manouchehr Mottaki, the Iranian regime’s foreign minister, to the European Parliament next week.
During the past week, the regime has officially announced the execution of 7 prisoners. Two of the hangings were carried out in public in Abadan and Ahvaz.
On May 9, the regime executed 5 political prisoners including a woman. The President of the European Parliament Mr Jerzy Buzek condemned the execution of these 5 prisoners. He said: “The growing number of death sentences in the past few years has contributed to a disturbing trend of intimidation towards opposition protestors.”
The Iranian regime announced on Saturday 15 May that the death sentences for six political prisoners who are families of Camp Ashraf residents and supporters of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI) have been endorsed.
In these circumstances, extending an invitation to a minister of this regime to use the democratic platform of our parliament is not appropriate and will surely harm the standing of the European Parliament.
We call for the immediate cancellation of this visit till a moratorium on executions is introduced by the Iranian authorities.
Struan Stevenson MEP
Chair, Friends of a Free Iran
European Parliament
