Statement
Ministry for Foreign Affairs 05 September 2008
Carl Bildt, Minister for Foreign Affairs
Sweden on the sentence against Parvin Ardalan
"The prison sentence of 3 September against Iranian human rights activist Parvin Ardalan gives cause for concern. Ms Ardalan was not permitted to travel to Sweden to accept the Olof Palme Prize in March of this year. The claim that Ms Ardalan poses a threat to Iran's national security lacks credibility. I have previously expressed Sweden's appreciation of the commitment shown by Ms Ardalan and her colleagues to promote human rights in Iran. Their work is of particular importance to the situation of women in Iran," says Minister for Foreign Affairs Carl Bildt in a comment on the six-month prison sentence imposed on the recipient of the Olof Palme Prize for 2007, Parvin Ardalan, and three other human rights activists.
"I see this sentence as yet another expression of how respect for human rights in Iran has deteriorated. I made the statement in the Riksdag that recent months have seen a clearly negative trend in this area. The number of executions has increased dramatically and many of them have been carried out in public places. Since June, at least five people have been executed for crimes they are alleged to have committed as minors - the list of people who risk the same fate is long. The situation for many civil rights advocates and dissidents has deteriorated. Some have been sentenced to long terms of imprisonment, others to death with the risk of execution. For journalist and human rights defender Yaqub Mehrnehad it is already too late - he was executed on 4 August. The situation for minorities - particularly the Baha'i - has also deteriorated."
Contact
Anna Charlotta Johansson(journalists only) Press Secretary to Carl Bildt
+46 8 405 54 73
+46 70 356 30 32
email to Anna Charlotta Johansson
