Italian Lawmakers Urge Iran To Stop Protester Death Sentences

Italian lawmakers have approved a draft resolution urging Iran to immediately stop issuing death sentences to anti-government protestors and free all detainees.

The resolution was unanimously passed Wednesday by the Foreign and European Affairs Committee of the Italian Chamber of Deputies calls on Iran to withdraw all charges against protesters and free them from detention.

The text calls for the release of those “arrested solely for having peacefully exercised their rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly in the context of the protests,” the speaker of the committee, Giulio Tremonti, told Arab News.

The Italian parliamentarian emphasized that the resolution “was backed by all the parties, as a sign of the unity of Italy in the support to the Iranian population,” calling the cross-party agreement “really remarkable.”

The draft resolution binds the Italian government to urge the annulment of the death sentences and to request their immediate release.

Earlier, the Italian Senate’s Foreign and Defense Committee approved a similar resolution.

Meanwhile, Andrea Orsini, a deputy with the Forza Italia party, told a press conference that “it is intolerable that Iran is so aggressive towards democracy and remains a factor of instability for the world and for the Middle East.”

On Wednesday, the President of Italy said the Islamic Republic has “surpassed all limits” in its bloody and brutal crackdown on protests.

Sergio Mattarella said, “what is happening in recent weeks in Iran exceeds all limits and cannot, in any way, be set aside.”