14/01/2013 (Agence Europe) - Call for clemency. “Concerned” by reports that the executions of Zanyar Moradi and Loghman Moradi, members of the Kurdish Komalah Party, sentenced to death on charges of murder in Iran, are imminent, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton has called for clemency, her spokesperson said in a press release on 11 January. Ashton is concerned about the statements in which the two apparently confessed under torture, her spokesperson added. “This seems to point to a disturbing consistency in the extensive use of capital punishment, as confirmed by the high number of executions carried out in Iran throughout 2012”, her spokesperson continued. He again stated that the EU is opposed to the death penalty and called on Iran to halt the executions and introduce a moratorium. Zanyar and Loghman were sentenced for the murder of the son of an imam and for “hostility to God and corruption of the earth” (our translation). They say they confessed under torture and have denied the allegations. (CG/transl.fl)