European Parliament condemns Iran's execution of Dutch-Iranian woman, calls for new sanctions

[News_Editor]

European Parliament condemns Iran's execution of Dutch-Iranian woman, calls for new sanctions

2011-03-10 20:05:29 GMT+7 (ICT)

BRUSSELS (BNO NEWS) -- Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) on Thursday approved a resolution in which they condemned Iran's execution of a Dutch-Iranian woman and called for new sanctions against the regime.

45-year-old Zahra Bahrami, who was accused of being a member of an international drug trafficking ring, was executed in late January for allegedly using her Dutch connections to smuggle cocaine to Iran. Authorities said 450 grams of cocaine and 420 grams of opium had been found during a search of her house.

The Dutch government had worked to prevent Bahrami from being executed as she also had a Dutch passport. But Iran's Ambassador to the Netherlands, Kazem Gharibabadi, said that Iran did not have any legal commitment to listen to the Dutch side as the country does not recognize double-nationality.

Bahrami's family claims that she did not smuggle drugs and that the drug charges were fabricated in response to her participation in anti-government protests in 2009. But Iran's Foreign Ministry denied those allegations as a 'pretext to exert pressure on the country.'

The resolution, drafted by Dutch SGP politician Bastiaan Belder, firmly condemned the execution and said MEPs are "dismayed that the Iranian authorities denied consular access to Ms Bahrami and did not ensure a transparent and fair judicial process."

The MEPs also called on EU Foreign Affairs High Representative Catherine Ashton to raise the case of Bahrami and Iranian woman Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani with authorities in Iran. Ashtiani is currently imprisoned under a death sentence for alleged adultery and involvement in her husband's murder.

MEPs believe that the time has come for the European Union to devise a new and broader strategy towards Iran, which goes beyond the nuclear issue and addresses Iran's human rights record and regional role, said MEPs, who call on EU foreign ministers to impose sanctions targeting Iranian officials responsible for serious human rights abuses since the disputed presidential election of June 2009, in line with similar measures taken by the United States last September.

MEPs also said that, because of Iran's refusal to fully co-operate with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the European Union should consider additional sanctions as a consequence. However, they also wish to ensure that Ashton assesses the impact and effectiveness of all EU restrictive measures, in order to prevent Iran from evading the sanctions. Sanctions are meant to hit the blacklisted officials, not the Iranian population as a whole, they warn.

The European Parliament said it also "regrets" the number of executions in Iran in 2009, which was the highest in the past 10 years, making Iran the country with the highest number of executions per capita in the world. They called on the government to impose a moratorium on these executions and to abolish the execution of minors under the age of 18.

MEPs note the popular discontent that followed the 2009 presidential elections and the Iranian people's growing aspirations for democratic change. Iran's domestic problems continue to deteriorate, despite burgeoning oil prices, say MEPs, while President Ahmadinejad continues to embrace a radical anti-Western, anti-Israel agenda, they say.

MEPs are also concerned that the growing military, political and economic role of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps in Iranian society is fuelling fears of a further militarization of the state, which in turn could lead to an escalation of violence and oppression of political opposition.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2011-03-10

[asiawatcher]

If the woman 'was' peddling drugs - it was a certain death sentence. But if she was not given trial under any recognisable conditions and allowed to defend, your can only conclude she was a political expendable pawn.

[softgeorge]

The European Parliment should stop supporting the drug trade. This woman was caught breaking the law and paid the price very simple.

[LaoPo]

The European Parliment should stop supporting the drug trade. This woman was caught breaking the law and paid the price very simple.

Words, written in ignorance.

The woman's initial arrest was a political one. The drugs charges were brought in at a much later stage.

She was tortured to death, so is believed and not hanged, done so without a proper trial and her body was NOT given back to the family. Giving the body back to the family is a normal and standard procedure in Iran, once a "criminal" is "executed"

Instead, she was buried in an unknown place many hundreds of kms away from where she died. It was too risky for the authorities to give her body back to the family. There was an enormous political scandal after this "execution of a criminal".

Please refrain from comments if you don't know the details of the case.

LaoPo

[Hawaiian]

The European Parliment should stop supporting the drug trade. This woman was caught breaking the law and paid the price very simple.

Rather doubtful if anyone can get a fair trial in Iran. Just read the official press releases from Tehran and you can see that distortion of the truth is a routine thing.

Edited March 11, 2011 by Hawaiian

[MegaRanter]

For whatever reason, execution is simply barbaric. Trying to make a nukey bomb illegally, while killing someone for having 450gms of cocaine in their house.

[Steely Dan]

In the 2010 survey of press freedom by Country Iran ranked 175th out of 178, I think you would have to be on drugs yourself to believe Iran's version of events in preference to that of the Dutch.