UN European Union Against Release of Assadollah Assadi
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Roshan Amiri
- . September 8, 2022
- . Update: September 27, 2022 1:24 am
Iranian national to be returned to his homeland. Assadollah Assadi shouldn’t be sent back, is the united call by UN and EU legal experts amongst other officials that count to some 68 persons.
Assadi is said to be serving a 20-year prison sentence for attempting to bomb a rally that was being organized by an opposition Iranian group on an international scale in 2018. The letter has been duly signed and sent to the PM Alexander De Croo stating how his release would mean ‘fueling the culture of impunity that exists for Iran’s officials.’
It is no surprise that the support against Assadi’s release comes from 25 countries, of which 17 are European nations itself.
“Allowing Assadi to serve the remainder of his 20-year sentence in Iran, the state, which was responsible for the attempted terrorist bombing, would make a mockery of the rule of law and foster further impunity for the Iranian government and its officials involved in terrorism and crimes against humanity,” the letter says.
“Transferring Assadi to Iran would effectively free him from serving his sentence and would set a dangerous precedent and seriously weaken the rule of law in Europe.”
The letter added that it would also encourage more Iranian terrorism on EU soil and reassure Iranian officials that they can evade responsibility for major international crimes.
The Belgian Federal Parliament has been considering the ratification of a proposed treaty with Iran that could allow the convicted terrorist to be released in exchange for a jailed aid worker and an academic.
Further the letter states how “Iran is currently engaging in hostage diplomacy. It has in recent times arrested a number of European citizens or dual nationals on spurious charges. Accordingly, state media have stated plainly that these individuals would only be freed if Assadi is released back to Iran.”
In light of this, the officials urged the government of Belgium to resist Iran’s “hostage diplomacy tactics.”
