Feb. 4. 2010 (Norway's Foreign Ministry*) – Norwegian State Secretary for Foreign Affairs: “I am profoundly worried about the deterioration of the human rights situation in Iran after last year’s elections.”
Norway has condemned the hanging of two people in Iran last Thursday. Mohammad-Reza Ali Zamani and Arash Rahmanpour were sentenced in August of last year at a hearing for participating in the organization of the unrests which took hold after the June 2009 presidential elections in Iran.
In total, 11 people have thus far been sentenced to death in connection with the post-election unrest in 2009. The sentencing was handed down in public hearings without lawyers and after announcement of forced confessions by the defendants.
Norwegian State Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Gry Larsen, says: “Being deprived a fair hearing raises a lot of concern and is against the most basic judicial principles to which Iran has been committed. I call on Iran to comply with its international obligations in the context of fundamental human rights and respect for the freedom of expression and assembly.”
