Updated on 12/20/2022 5:33 pm
- Austrian lawmakers have launched a campaign to bring international attention to those imprisoned in Iran.
- They sponsor over 180 people sentenced to death.
Austrian parliamentarians sponsor 183 people arrested and sentenced to death in Iran. With the action and letter to the Iranian ambassador in Vienna and parliamentarians in Iran, the leaders of the ÖVP, SPÖ, Greens and NEOS want to draw international attention to the prisoners, as they explained at a press conference in Vienna on Tuesday. The FPÖ does not take part in the action.
After the National Council unanimously condemned the imposition of the death penalty related to the protests in Iran, the four parties are of the opinion “that we have to give more weight to the request” and take other measures, explained the spokesman for the policy outside the ÖVP, Reinhold Lopatka. As the FPÖ deputies did not want sponsorships, 31 deputies intervened to come up with number 183 anyway.
Lawmakers want to end wave of executions in Iran
It is mainly about stopping the wave of executions, and it is “one minute to 12”, said Harald Troch of the SPÖ. Troch criticized that while parliament is in a good position to condemn the Iranian regime for its brutal actions against protesters, the federal government lacks an information policy on the activities of the Austrian embassy in Iran. He also recalled Austrian-Iranian citizen Kamran Ghaderi, who had been imprisoned in Iran for years, and urged the Foreign Ministry to work towards a speedy release.
“International attention means protection for prisoners, this is the most effective means”, justified the president of the Green Club, Sigrid Maurer. “The barbarism of the Iranian regime” is unacceptable and officials regularly demand information on the whereabouts of detainees. Maurer himself took over the sponsorship of journalist Niloofar Hamedi, who was arrested in police custody for reporting the death of Mahsa Amini.
FPÖ: Sponsorship campaign is “completely ineffective”
NEOS representative Helmut Brandstätter is the godfather of Iranian rapper Toomaj Salehi. According to Islamic legal opinion, the prominent musician is accused of “war against God” and “corruption on earth” after videos in which he called for participation in the protests. Both allegations can result in a death sentence. A human rights lawyer explained to him: “There’s only one chance to save your life, it’s international pressure,” Brandstätter said.
The FPÖ described the sponsorship campaign as “completely ineffective”. It is to be feared “that it will be used for hypocritical self-portraits and even to the detriment of the affected detainees, who are thus placed at the center of the attention of authorities in their home country from abroad”, said the party’s human rights spokesman, Susanne Fürst, in an opinion. According to the FPÖ, it would be much more important, for example, to advance negotiations for a nuclear deal with Iran in Vienna.
According to human rights activists, at least 18,000 participants in Iran’s anti-system rallies, which last nearly three months, have been arrested so far. Two protesters have been executed in recent weeks and at least 23 others risk being sentenced to death, according to media reports. (APA/tas)