Brussels, 08/02/2008 (Agence Europe) - In a press release published on Thursday 7 February, the Slovenian Presidency of the EU “condemns the increasing recourse to death sentences and executions in the Islamic Republic of Iran”. It says it is particularly concerned at the threat of imminent execution facing Ms Zohreh Kabiri, Ms Azar Kabiri and Mr Abdollah Farivar, who have been sentenced to death by stoning. During the second round of the EU-Iran human rights dialogue in 2003, the EU was informed by the Iranian side that there was a moratorium on this form of capital punishment. The EU urges Tehran “to abolish immediately, in law and in practice, the use of stoning as a method of execution” and “to abolish the death penalty, if necessary by initially establishing a moratorium on executions”.
In another statement issued on the same day, the EU expresses its “serious concern” at the worsening situation of ethnic and religious minorities in Iran, in particular the Baha'i. 54 Baha'is were sentenced by a court in Shiraz for “propaganda against the regime”. Three of the convicted Baha'is were sentenced to four years in prison, while 51 were given one year suspended prison terms. (A.B.)