The Friends of a Free Iran group at the European Parliament on Tuesday issued the following statement about the cancellation of the trip by the mullahs’ president to Austria:
Press Release
Brussels- 5 April 2016
Iran’s pressures to repress and silence its opposition in Europe must not be tolerated
The Iranian government, expressing “security considerations”, cancelled President Rouhani’s visit to Austria on 30 March, just a few hours before his flight. This claim was immediately rejected by President of Austria, Heinz Fischer, who said that there were no security problems at all. A few days later, the powerful president of Iranian parliament, Ali Larijani, said that the visit by Rouhani had been called off because of a demonstration by the main opposition PMOI. Larijani noted that the Austrian government declined the request of the Iranian president for cancelling the permission granted for PMOI’s rally.
On March 30, the Austrian newspaper Die Presse quoted Austrian diplomatic sources that the Iranian government had asked Austria to prevent a demonstration during Rouhani’s visit to Vienna. But the Austrian government… had turned down the request. Heinz Fischer, President of Austria, noted: “We have taken all necessary security precautions, but Austria cannot prohibit assembly and demonstrations. The right to assembly is deep-rooted in the Austrian constitution… Assembly cannot be prohibited in our democracy.”
The Friends of a Free Iran in the European parliament applauds the government of Austria for not accepting this anti-democratic demand by Iran. We strongly condemn such diplomatic pressures to silence Iranian dissidents abroad.
Since Mr Rouhani became President in 2013, more than 2300 have been hanged, including 1000 in 2015, making Iran to be the record holder for the highest number of executions in the world per capita. Women have been repressed for improper veiling and many women activists have been jailed.
We have repeatedly called on European governments to condition their relationship with Iran to a halt to executions and a clear progress on human rights. Unfortunately the Iranian people and the opposition are not allowed to freely express their opinion inside Iran. However we cannot allow the regime’s repression inside the country to be extended to the European capitals.
The refusal of the government of Austria not to bow down to the demand of Iranian regime should set an example for all EU member states when dealing with dictatorships like Iran.
Gérard Deprez MEP
Chair, Friends of a Free Iran
European Parliament