União Europeia pede que Irã revogue apedrejamento

A União Europeia apelou ao Parlamento iraniano para revogar a condenação de Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani. A comunidade aposta na sua importância perante o mundo para conseguir mudar o destino da iraniana, condenada por adultério a morte por apedrejamento. Antes de a União Europeia decidir, o governo iraniano já havia informado à imprensa mundial que a sentença contra Sakineh estava suspensa para nova análise.

A Assembleia Parlamentar do Conselho Europeu enviou, nesta quarta-feira (8/9), uma carta para Ali Larijani, líder religioso no Irã. Quem assina o apelo é o presidente da Assembleia, Mevlüt Çavusoglu. Na carta, ele afirma que a sentença imposta para Sakineh é desumana e deixa uma sombra trágica sobre o Irã.

Çavusoglu lembra a luta da União Europeia para abolir a pena de morte, condição imposta para que os países fizessem parte da comunidade. E, também, comemora a suspensão da condenação da iraniana. Ele apela: “Eu me junto a eles [todos aqueles que têm lutado para que Sakineh não seja morta] como presidente de uma Assembleia que representa mais de 800 milhões de cidadãos europeus e apela para que você faça o seu melhor para que essa pena de morte seja suspensa”.

Leia a carta (em inglês):

Strasbourg, 8 September 2010

Excellency,

I appreciated your letter on the occasion of my election and I welcomed your proposal to build up constructive and active dialogue between our institutions, based on respect and mutual understanding.

I believe that the point of departure of dialogue is finding shared principles and values, and we certainly share a faith in human dignity and respect for human life.

The Council of Europe has been fighting against the death penalty for a long time, within our continent and beyond. We required all European countries to abolish death penalty or to introduce a moratorium on executions as a prerequisite for accession to our Organisation. As a result of that, Europe is now death-penalty-free. 

I would now like to mention the case of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, the Iranian woman who was convicted of adultery and sentenced to death by stoning.

Many voices have been raised in defense of the life and dignity of Sakineh Ashtiani. Politicians, artists, intellectuals and simple citizens from all over the world  have expressed their horror and consternation and urged the Iranian authorities to stop the mistreatment of this woman and spare her life.

I join them as President of an Assembly representing over 800 million European citizens and I appeal to you to do your utmost for this death sentence to be repealed. This inhuman sentence and the mistreatment that Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani is suffering cast a tragic shadow over your country.

I have learnt today that the sentence has been suspended and is being reviewed. This is very good news which I welcome as a step in the right direction. I voice my hope that your country’s authorities go further and release Sakineh. That would be a sign of goodwill and an encouragement for all those who want to co-operate with Iran, as we do.

We have plenty of time to engage in dialogue on matters of common interest, but there is very little time left to save Sakineh’s life.

Yours sincerely

Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu