U.K. and Canada react to the executions of protesters in Iran
February 4th, 2010 - 1:33 am ICT by BNO NewsTEHRAN, IRAN (BNO News) – As Iran announced new executions of post-election ‘rioters’, international disapproval was generated on Wednesday.
An additional nine people will be executed after two had been hung last Thursday, out of the eleven protesters who were arrested and sentenced to death during anti-government movements seeking to bring down the Islamic regime, Fars News agency reported Tuesday quoting a senior judiciary official as saying.
Mohammad Reza Ali Zamani, age 37, and Arash Rahmani Pour, 20, were executed in Iran last Thursday after being detained during the counter-revolutionary movements.
The re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad last June was a highly disputed poll, which provoked a wave of protests. The hangings of these two were the first executions reported after the protests.
“Following last week’s executions of Mohammad Reza Ali-Zamani and Arash Rahmanipour, this appears to be yet another attempt by the regime to intimidate the opposition movement,” Ivan Lewis, Britain’s Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Office, said.
“Calls by senior Iranian figures for use of the death penalty to quell unrest are deplorable,” Lewis added.
“It is particularly concerning that these people are facing death by hanging after being sentenced in TV show trials that denied defendants’ their basic rights. Iran has committed itself to internationally accepted standards of justice and human rights. These rights clearly extend to a right to a fair trial and the right to freedom of assembly,” Lewis said.
Iran is taking strong measures to pressure and avoid future opposition movements as another wave of confrontations may rise February 11, the 31st anniversary of the founding of the Islamic Republic.
Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Lawrence Cannon, expressed their concern for the situation in a statement as well, saying, “Canada once again calls upon the Government of Iran to reverse this trend and to meet its domestic and international legal obligations, and further urges Iran to ensure that due process is respected for those detained.”
More than 4,000 people were arrested in a massive restraint during the weeks that followed the presidential election.
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- 'Mideast massive protests' a replay of 1979 Islamic revolution: Iranian conservatives - Jan 29, 2011
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- Iranian opposition recruiting disgruntled Revolutionary Guard to cripple Ahmadinejad - Feb 07, 2011
- Amnesty International details abuse of Iran protesters - Dec 10, 2009
- Iranian Mother Faces the Possibility Of Being Stoned To Death - Jul 06, 2010
- Ex-Iranian president's daughter jailed - Jan 04, 2012
- Iranian woman, to be stoned to death, may get hanged - Dec 26, 2011
- TV series to explore life of Iran's last shah - May 14, 2011
- Iranian 'adultress' to be executed Wednesday - Nov 02, 2010
- Ahmadinejad warns opposition ahead of protests - Jun 04, 2010
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