100 MEPs, members of EP’s Friends of a Free Iran group, condemn killing of Iranian protesters
More than 100 MEPs have signed a statement regarding the Iranian uprising
The group of Friends of a Free Iran in the European Parliament condemned the killing of Iranian protesters in a statement.
Ms. Livia Jaroka , Vice President of the European Parliament from Hungary, David CASA Member of the European Parliament Presidency from Malta, Former Romanian President Traian Băsescu, Former Prime Minister of Lithuania Andrius Kubilius, Former Polish Foreign Minister Anna Elżbieta Fotyga and European Regional Policy Commissioner Danuta Hubner from Poland, Former Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Paet, as well as Foreign Minister and former Czech Defense Minister Alexandr Vondra, and 24 ministers and former members of the cabinet of European governments are signatories of the statement.
The Statement of the Group of Friend of a free Iran is as follows
European Parliament, Friend of a free Iran(FoFI)
December 2019
Call to end brutal crackdown on protesters in Iran with thousands killed, thousands wounded and thousands more arrested
On Friday evening, 15,2019, Iranian cities were the scenes of protests against the tripling of gasolines. Protests have so far spread to 200 and 31 provinces across Iran.
People chanted slogans: “Down with Rouhani”, “Down with Khamenei” , “Down with Dictator”, “We will not rest until we gain our rights.”
The Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has ordered the Revolutionary Guards and other security forces to open fire on the demonstrations in different cities. The number of those killed keep rising.
Reports coming from Iran indicate that at least 1,500 protesters have been killed in Tehran, Shiraz, Isfahan, Tabriz, Ahvaz, Sirjan, Behbahan, Shahryar, Khorramshahr, Marivan… Another 12,000 have been arrested and thousands have been wounded, many in critical conditions. However, protests continue throughout Iran.
The regime cut off the internet completely in the first two weeks following the protests to conceal the scope of the uprising and the scale of its brutality.
We offer our condolences to families who have lost loved and support protesters defending their fundamental rights against tyranny, freedom of speech and freedom of access to the internet.
We support the appeal by Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran who called this “an uprising to 40 years of dictatorship and terrorism in Iran. Regime leaders must face justice for crime against humanity.” We also support her emphasis to the imperative need to dispatch UN delegations to Iran to investigate the situation of the martyrs, the wounded, and the prisoners.
We urge the European Union and member states to stand with the Iranian people in their desire to live in freedom and democracy and to take urgent action to end the brutal suppression of protesters.
We call on EU heads of states or government sand the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy to strongly condemn the crackdown on demonstrators, urge for the immediate release of all detainees and to support the Iranian people’s uprising for a free and democratic Iran.