TEHRAN – An Iranian
official on Friday denounced the European Parliament’s resolution on death sentence in Iran, saying it is based on political goals that do not represent reality on the ground.
Kazem Gharibabadi, the secretary-general of Iran’s Human Rights Office, cited the fact that death sentence is used in 55 countries, encouraging European states to respect the laws and cultural variety of other countries.
According to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the death penalty is permissible in capital crimes, the Iranian official said. He said the Europeans should avoid forcing other countries to accept and implement EU standards which violated the sovereignty of those states.
Gharibabadi also criticized the European Parliament for supporting the MKO terrorist group and referring to such a dangerous group as political opponents.
It is disgraceful for members of the European Parliament to ignore the crimes and massacres committed by terrorists who have killed over 12,000 civilian Iranians and continue to commit crimes while freely traveling through European countries, he said.
In response to the resolution’s support for Ahmad-Reza Jalali, an Iranian held for spying, the official chastised Europe’s strategy of using such people to spy on other countries, including Iran.
He said several European countries have deported Iranian nationals to the U.S. on false pretenses of evading illegal U.S. sanctions, calling on Europe to stop abusing the rights of the Iranian people.
The death penalty, Gharibabadi said, is a law that is based on the rights of victim families; hence, the Iranian government cannot change the rule, leaving it to the victim families to either stay or implement executions.
He used the European Parliament to revoke the resolution, which has been ratified as a result of lobbying by certain groups known for their animosity with the Islamic Republic.