30/04/2018 (Agence Europe) – On Friday 27 April, the chair of the European Parliament's sub-committee on human rights, Pier Antonio Panzeri (S&D, Italy), spoke out against the executions of at least 18 people in Iran over previous days, saying he was "deeply shocked and saddened". "I reiterate the EU's unwavering opposition to (...) capital punishment in all cases and under all circumstances", he said in a press release. He said it was "particularly disturbing that a number of death penalty verdicts handed down by Iranian courts still concern prisoners convicted for crimes committed as minors or are delivered through judiciary proceedings that do not respect the requirements of due process and fair trials". Panzeri "strongly" encouraged "further steps, including more transparency and judicial reform in the hope that this would lead to a significant reduction of death penalty sentences". (CG)