14/09/2020 (Agence Europe) – On Monday 14 September, the spokesman for the European External Action Service condemned, "in the strongest terms" the execution on 12 September, at the age of 27, of wrestler Navid Afkari, convicted of killing a security guard during anti-government demonstrations in 2018. Mr Afkari said he was tortured to make a confession. "Human rights remain a central feature of our engagement with Iran. We will continue to engage with Iranian authorities on this issue including through the local EU representation in Teheran and also on individual cases such as this recent execution", the EU spokesman said in a statement. He stressed that the EU was opposed to the death penalty in all circumstances and in all cases with no exception. (CG)