In a letter sent from Evin prison, six female political prisoners call on the international community to put an end to “mass executions”. They were heard by French parliamentarians.
This Thursday, May 11 at 11 a.m., in support of an appeal by the prisoners of Evin, around fifty French parliamentarians simultaneously published a message on their social networks to call the Iranian government halt to executions by the Iranian regime.
“At the call of the political prisoners of Evin, I solemnly ask @Iran_GOV to immediately stop the mass executions of opponents in #Iran. The struggle continues for the universal abolition of the death penalty. #StopExecutionsInIran #FrenchMP4Iran #WomanLifeFreedom »
“Be our voice”
” The idea is to give visibility to Iranians on death rowexplains Léo Walter, French deputy (Nupes) of the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence. There is a slogan of the Iranian protesters which is “be our voice”, so we strive to be because they are not heard sums up the parliamentarian who is also the symbolic godfather of Amin Mehdi Shokrollahi, a Iranian 17-year-old who faces execution after being arrested during protests sparked by the death in custody in September of young Mahsa Amini.
In a letter sent on May 8 from Evin prison, six female political prisoners – including Nargess Mohammadi, one of the three Iranian journalists awarded the UNESCO Prize for Press Freedom – appealed ” to the international community (…) to exert maximum pressure against the Islamic Republic and to put an end to these State crimes “. ” We, political prisoners of Evin, they writecondemn the executions committed by the dictatorship and demand that they be stopped immediately “.
On May 8, two atheist activists were hanged after being sentenced to death on charges of ” blasphemy for criticizing religious superstitions on their Telegram channel. Two days earlier, an Iranian-Swedish Iran’s Arab minority activist, charged with separatism, was also hanged.
” After a relative lull, the Iranian authorities again carried out a wave of mass executions of political dissidents, deplores Chirrine Ardakani, lawyer and member of Iran Justice, at the origin with four other collectives of this action. Evin prisoners seek the support of political leaders on all sides to maintain a balance of power with the Tehran regime “.
According to the UN, at least 209 people have been executed since January 1, mostly for drug-related offences. The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk expressed concern on May 9 in a statement from the “ appallingly high number of executions this year which amounts to more than ten a week.
>> To read also: Iran: more than ten people are executed every week, denounces the UN