Jordi Xuclà expresses alarm over rising numbers of executions in Iran

                
Jordi Xuclà, President of Llibertat i Democràcia and Vice President of Liberal International

The President of Llibertat i Democràcia and Vice President of Liberal International, Jordi Xuclà expresses alarm over the rising numbers of executions in Iran.
Since the June 2013 Presidential elections in Iran, there were big expectations in the West that the new President Hassan Rouhani will be more moderate and tolerant towards the Iranian people’s call for freedom and democracy. But the record of the past seven months has shown a totally opposite direction in escalating violation of human rights in Iran.
At least 625 people were executed in Iran during 2013, which is a record high number for the past ten years. Most executions have taken place after Rouhani took office. According to reports, since the beginning of 2014 more than 150 people have been hanged in Iran, many of them in public. This week a 25-year-old women, Farzaneh Moradi, was hanged accused for a crime committed when she was 19, something that she had repeatedly denied. Her 10 year old daughter is now without mother. Last week, footage posted on social networks and YouTube showed the shocking scene of a young man who was begging to have a chance to see her mother before he was executed in public on 25 February, the henchmen rejected his request.
The head of EU External Affairs Baroness Ashton is now expected to be going to Iran on Saturday 8 March which coincides with the International Women’s Day. Jordi Xuclà said “it is absolutely essential that Baroness Ashton raises sharp criticisms publicly about these gross human rights abuses. The European Union cannot be seen to diminish into a trade partner with dictators and forget about its core values for freedom and democracy and human rights.”