3 August 2021
We condemn EU’s shameful decision to attend inauguration of Iran’s mass murderer president Ebrahim Raisi
The EU has just announced that it is to send Enrique Mora, its deputy external affairs chief, to attend the inauguration ceremony of Ebrahim Raisi on August 5th!!
Raisi is a mass murderer who has been committing crimes against humanity since 1981. Prior to being announced as a so-called president, Raisi has been in charge of the judiciary system, which is responsible for arresting, torturing and executing thousands of dissidents over the past 41 years.
Please see the following examples, which are only a drop in the ocean, of crimes against humanity committed by Raisi:
- In the summer of 1988 Ebrahim Raisi was Tehran’s deputy prosecutor and member of the “death committee”, when more than 5000 political prisoners were executed in only 3-4 weeks and then their bodies were dumped in mass graves, never to be found. After 33 years, many families still do not know where their loved ones are buried. Some families have been arrested and tortured only because they are demanding to know the truth about why their loved ones were executed in 1988. Until now, no one within the Islamic regime, including Raisi, has been charged for the massacre of 1988. In one of his recent interviews at the end of June 2021, Raisi publicly defended the massacre of thousands of political prisoners and claimed that it was “one of the proud achievements of the system” and that he was “defending the human rights”.
- Under his power as the head of the Judiciary, the Islamic regime carried out the crackdown on the protesters in November 2019, when 1500 people were shot by the security forces, and more than 8000 were arrested, tortured and given lengthy jail sentences. Many are still in prison.
- Under Raisi’s power, tens of protesters, including the Iranian wrestling Champion Navid Afkari, were executed for merely expressing their opposition to the crimes committed by the leaders of the Islamic regime.
- Hundreds of rights activists and their families have been harassed, arrested, tortured, and have been given flogging or lengthy prison sentences as well as being issued death sentences.
- Raisi as a member of the Supreme National Security Council of the Islamic regime has been instrumental in intentionally shooting down Ukrainian flight PS752 on 8th January 2020 which resulted in the killing of all 176 passengers on board.
Ebrahim Raisi must be arrested and investigated for committing crimes against humanity for over 41 years. It is outrageous that the EU has decided to send a representative to the inauguration of Ebrahim Raisi and side with a murderer and the Islamic regime that has executed thousands of people.
We call on all people to show their outrage by writing to the EU Commission President and demanding the immediate reversal of their appealing decision.
Campaign to Free Political Prisoners in Iran (CFPPI)
For more information, contact:
Shiva Mahbobi, Spokeswoman
shiva.mahbobi@gmail.com +44 7572356661
You can take an action by sending your letter to the following emails. Sample letter is provided.
To :
EU Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, via the Head of Cabinet, Björn Seibert: Bjoern.SEIBERT@ec.europa.eu copied to Enrique Mora: Enrique.MORA@eeas.europa.eu
CC: CFPPI: cfppiiran2006@gmail.com
[ sample letter]
“I am appalled by your disgraceful decision to send Enrique Mora, Deputy Secretary-General of the EU’s European External Action Service, to attend the inauguration ceremony of mass murderer Ebrahim Raisi. Ebrahim Raisi was the head of a “Death Commission” which in the summer of 1988 on the orders of Khomeini carried out the wholesale secret massacre of thousands of political prisoners, dumping their bodies in mass graves. He is also responsible for the imprisonment, torture and murder of thousands of political dissidents and protesters during his long years in office in the judiciary of the Islamic Republic. I understand that Amnesty International and the United Nations human rights investigator on Iran, Mr Javaid Rehman, among others, have called for independent investigations into Ebrahim Raisi’s role in the 1988 Prison Massacres. I further understand that another member of the same “Death Commission” in 1988, Hamid Nouri, is currently in jail in Sweden awaiting trial on charges of war crimes and mass murders. I demand that you withdraw this decision immediately and stop appeasing Iran’s Islamic regime and granting political legitimacy to that regime and its criminal president Ebrahim Raisi.”