The Diplomat
Spain has condemned “in the strongest possible terms” the execution of young protesters Abolfazl Sepahi-Badejani and Amirhossein Safari Hosseinabadi, carried out by Iranian authorities on Tuesday morning in Isfahan, “within the framework of the brutal repression stemming from the demonstrations in Alikhani Square,” and has conveyed “its deepest condolences to their families and loved ones.”
Spain also expresses “its extreme concern about the imminent risk of execution hanging over the other eight protesters collectively charged in the same case: Alireza Sepahi, Ghaem Hosseini, Shervin Bagherian Jebeli, Amirhossein Maleki, Ali Dashti, Abolfazl Ebrahimi, Alireza Raisi, and Amirhossein Ebrahimi-Analoucheh, whose cases have been the subject of strong warnings from United Nations Special Rapporteurs and Special Procedures.”
In a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Spain reiterates its “principled, firm, and unequivocal position” of “absolute opposition to the death penalty under any circumstances and anywhere in the world.” “Capital punishment is a cruel, inhuman, and degrading sanction that violates the fundamental right to life and human dignity. It is also a strictly irreversible punishment that definitively eliminates any possibility of rectifying potential judicial errors,” the statement warns.
Therefore, in line with the UN’s urgent pronouncements, “Spain urges the authorities of the Islamic Republic of Iran with the utmost urgency to immediately halt the execution of pending death sentences and commute these sentences.” Likewise, “it demands full respect for due process guarantees, the right to a defense, and the right to a fair trial, as enshrined in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Iran is a State Party.”
“Spain will continue to use all available diplomatic channels, including its membership on the Human Rights Council, to demand an end to these executions and to promote a general moratorium on the death penalty as an essential step toward its definitive legal abolition,” the statement concludes.
