Greek Foreign Minister Giorgos Gerapetritis has called on Iran to refrain from executing protesters, citing the case of 26-year-old Erfan Soltani, during talks in Athens with Dutch Foreign Minister David van Weel.
“We call on the regime in Iran to refrain from imposing and executing penalties on citizens demonstrating in support of freedom,” Gerapetritis said on Wednesday, referring to Soltani, who was detained last week and whose family said he faced imminent execution.
“The death penalty imposed on young people, as a consequence of exercising a universal right, is a disgrace that cannot be tolerated by the international community. We call for absolute avoidance of any such action,” he added.
Gerapetritis stressed that “fundamental rights, among them freedom of expression and freedom of assembly, must be respected by all,” describing the use of force resulting in loss of life as “abhorrent and absolutely condemnable.”
According to relatives and the Norway-based human rights group Hengaw, Soltani was arrested at his home in Fardis, west of Tehran, and sentenced to death following what they described as a rapid and opaque process.
Hengaw said on Wednesday it had “serious and ongoing concerns regarding Soltani’s right to life,” though his execution had reportedly been postponed. Iran’s judiciary has not commented.
During the Athens meeting, Gerapetritis and van Weel also discussed NATO cohesion, cooperation between NATO and the European Union, and collective security.
The Greek minister warned that weakening global multilateralism fuels insecurity, adding that Greece, as an elected member of the UN Security Council, views the United Nations as the appropriate forum for safeguarding peace.
“The rules of international law and the principles of the UN charter, especially respect of national sovereignty and territorial integrity, are absolutely not negotiable features of peaceful world order,” Gerapetritis said.
Source: BBC.
