Iran, Metsola: “We call for the immediate release of Mohammadi and Sotoudeh”

Brussels – The President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, opened the plenary session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg by highlighting the Iranian regime’s persecution of protesters and dissidents and calling for the immediate release of the activist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Narges Mohammadi, and the human rights lawyer, Nasrin Sotoudeh. 

“Amid the fog of war and despite the ceasefire, the Iranian regime continues to carry out arbitrary executions and detain dissidents,” Metsola emphasises. “Narges Mohammadi, a human rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, was sentenced to a further seven and a half years in prison in February. She is currently in a serious condition, having suffered a heart attack last month while in detention,” while “Nasrin Sotoudeh, a human rights lawyer and winner of the Sakharov Prize, was recently arrested in Tehran,” she points out. “Two women of extraordinary courage who have given their all for justice and human dignity and who represent the will and resilience of so many in Iran: we call for their immediate and unconditional release,” says the President. “This Parliament will always be the voice of those who have been silenced and a platform for those who resist, and we will not look away,” concludes Metsola.