EP PRESS RELEASE:
EP visit to Iran cancelled after refusal Iranian authorities to meet Sakharov Prize winners
Delegations − 27-10-2012 - 14:04
The Iranian authorities have refused to give permission to a delegation of five MEPs set to travel to Tehran to meet with this year's Sakharov Prize winners Nasrin Sotoudeh and Jafar Panahi, after which the delegation cancelled the visit.
The delegation, led by Tarja Cronberg (Greens/EFA, FI) and including Cornelia Ernst (GUE, DE), Joseph Weidenholzer (S&D, AT), Isabelle Durant (Greens/EFA, BE and Juan Fernanco Lopez Aguilar (S&D, ES), was to meet their counterparts in the Majlis (Iranian parliament) as well as representatives of the civil society from 27 October to 2 November. On Friday, the Conference of Presidents (the Parliament President and political group leaders) unanimously awarded this year's Sakharov Prize for the Freedom of Thought to Sotoudeh and Panahi and decided that the delegation travelling to Tehran should be able to hand-deliver the invitation to collect the prize in Strasbourg in December, or cancel the visit.
Mid-morning, Saturday 27 October, Tarja Cronberg, who chairs the EP delegation for relations with Iran, received a call from the Iranian ambassador to the EU, who said that "at such short notice" it was impossible to guarantee that the MEPs could personally deliver invitation letters to the Sakharov prize laureates.
Therefore, the chair of the delegation Tarja Cronberg cancelled the visit of the delegation, which had been seen as an opportunity to reopen a dialogue with the Iranian Majlis and civil society in Iran. The decision was taken in full agreement with Parliament President Martin Schulz, who
commented: "I deeply regret that permission to meet the Sakharov laureates was withheld. The European Parliament is nevertheless determined to continue its support for and involvement with the Iranian civil society."
Controversial visit to Iran of five members of the European parliament cancelled
EUROPEAN JEWISH PRESS
by: Yossi Lempkowicz
Updated: 28/Oct/2012 16:00
BRUSSELS (EJP)---The planned controversial visit to Iran by a delegation of five members of the European Parliament was cancelled Saturday after Tehran refused to let them meet with two jailed Iran dissidents who were awarded on Friday a prestigious human rights prize by the EU institution.
“The Iranian authorities have refused to give permission to a delegation of MEPs set to travel to Tehran to meet with this year's Sakharov Prize winners Nasrin Sotoudeh and Jafar Panahi, after which the delegation cancelled the visit,” the head of the parliament delegation, Finnish Green MEP Tarja Cronberg, said.
"The five MEPs were about to leave for Tehran when delegation chair (Tarja Cronberg) received a phone call from the Iranian ambassador to the EU, saying they would not be allowed to meet with the two Sakharov Prize winners," a European Parliament source said.
Sotoudeh, a 47-year-old lawyer and leading human rights campaigner, who is serving an 11-year jail sentence for conspiring against state security, and Panahi, 52, a film director who is under house arrest and has been banned from making films for 20 years, were awarded the 2012 Sakharov Prize on Friday.
The human rights and democracy prize "is a message of solidarity and recognition to a woman and a man who have not been bowed by fear and intimidation and who have decided to put the fate of their country before their own," European Parliament President Martin Schulz said Friday.
The Iranians were chosen by Schulz and political group leaders in the European Parliament.
Schulz warned Friday that the visit of the parliamentarians would be cancelled if the delegation was unable to meet Sotoudeh and Panahi and hand-deliver the invitation to collect the prize in Strasbourg in December.
The rights award comes on the heels of tough new European Union sanctions against Iran aimed at forcing a breakthrough in talks between global powers and Tehran on its nuclear programme.
After a biting oil embargo took effect in July, EU leaders last week endorsed new sanctions by targeting dealings with Iran's banks, shipping and gas imports.
The last visit by a European parliamentary delegation to Iran was in 2007.
The ISNA news agency quoted Hossein Sheikholeslam, international affairs advisor to the speaker of parliament, as saying that Iran had "rejected a pre-condition set by the European parliamentary delegation to meet with two prisoners".
"If the delegation agrees to visit Iran under the initially agreed conditions and agenda, then there is no objection to the visit... But we cannot accept the current pre-condition."
The delegation, led by Tarja Cronberg, included also a leftist Danish MEP Cornelia Ernst (GUE, DE), Austrian Socialist Joseph Weidenholzer, Belgian Green Isabelle Durant and Spanish Socialist Juan Fernanco Lopez Aguilar (S&D, ES), was scheduled to meet their counterparts in the Majlis, the Iranian parliament, as well as representatives of the civil society from 27 October to 2 November.
In a statement before the announced cancellation, Tarja Cronberg, who chairs the European Parliament's delegation for relations with Iran, said the delegation would «follow up on the dialogue branch of the EU's twin-track approach to Iran of sanctions and dialogue and stress the EU's commitment to human rights by raising concerns directly with decision-makers and civil society representatives.”
The planned visit to Iran had been criticised by Jewish groups and within the parliament itself.
The Parliament’s Vice President, Alejo Vidal-Quadras, from the European People’s Party (Christian Democrat) group, the largest in the assembly, stated that "any formal delegation from the European Parliament to Iran would be extremely counter-productive coming so soon after increased sanctions were announced aimed at forcing Iran’s hand to abandoning its nuclear ambitions, as well as rejecting not only human rights violations, but also repression, fundamentalism and terrorism."
European Jewish Congress President Moshe Kantor expressed his surprise "that the European Parliament, the Union’s ultimate symbol of democracy and human rights, should be seen in any way as granting legitimacy to a regime which has shown a constant disdain for basic human rights and democratic practices in its own country while simultaneously threatening the very physical existence of its neighbours and in particular, the State of Israel."
Earlier this week, a Belgian Socialist MEP, Kathleen Van Brempt, who was supposed to join the delegation, withdrew her participation saying that while she was in favour of dialogue “this is not the right time to visit Iran."
ECR chairman: the European Parliament has been utterly naive on Iran
Press release by Martin Callanan MEP
26th October 2012 -- The European Parliament was right to award Iranian opposition activists Nasrin Sotoudeh and Jafar Panahi the prestigious Sakharov Prize this morning, but it is completely naive to think that sending a delegation of left-wing MEPs there this weekend will not undermine all of the efforts of national governments to force Iran to halt its nuclear weapons programme and improve human rights conditions, Martin Callanan MEP, leader of the European Conservatives and Reformists group in the European Parliament, said today.
Political group leaders, supported by the ECR, decided to award the parliament's Sakharov Prize for freedom of though to two Iranian opposition activists: Nasrin Sotoudeh and Jafar Panahi.
However, they also agreed to allow a delegation to visit Iran, providing they get to meet the Sakharov winners.
Mr Callanan said:
"The European Parliament is sending completely mixed messages to the Iranian regime. On the one hand we are demanding a cessation of its nuclear programme, on the other we are sending left-wing MEPs to hand the regime a propaganda coup. It is completely naive to think that this delegation will have any positive influence on human rights or Iran's nuclear ambitions.
"I firmly believe in talking to countries with whom we have disagreements but when it comes to Iran, experience has shown that our hand of friendship is abused for the regime's own propaganda purposes. This delegation will only strengthen Iran's hand.
"I am delighted that Nasrin Sotoudeh and Jafar Panahi have been awarded the Sakharov Prize. They are a reminder to us that there are a number of incredibly brave people in Iran who are fighting for their freedom. They deserved this prize and I hope they will be able to come to Strasbourg to receive it.
"Iran is a threat not just to Europe but to our allies in Israel. A nuclear Iran is the nightmare scenario for Israel, for Europe, and for the Middle East which could be plunged into an arms race. We must take whatever action necessary to prevent a nuclear Iran and to avoid any impression that we do not stand united and steadfast in our determination to prevent that scenario from occurring. The parliament has undermined the council's tough stance."
Contact: James Holtum on +32 473 861762
MEPs cancel Iran trip over Sakharov meeting
EU Obsrever - 27.10.12
BRUSSELS - Two Iranian dissidents have won the EU's freedom prize, but MEPs who had hoped to meet them in Iran have called off their trip.
The parliament on Friday (26 October) said that Jafar Panahi (a film maker) and Nasrin Sotoudeh (a human rights lawyer) got the prize as "a message of solidarity and recognition to a woman and a man who have not been bowed by fear and intimidation and who have decided to put the fate of their country before their own."
Sotoudeh, a mother of two, is currently on hunger strike in prison.
The €50,000 Sakharov Prize is to be handed over at a ceremony in Strasbourg in December.
The parliament decision coincided with a previously-scheduled trip to Iran by a group of five left-leaning MEPs led by Finnish Green Tarja Cronberg. The delegation had hoped to meet the Sakharov laureates to hand-deliver invitation letters from EU parliament chief Martin Schulz to the prize-giving ceremony.But Cronberg cancelled the trip on Saturday morning after the Iranian ambassador to the EU told her that he could not guarantee "at such short notice" that she would be able to do it.
"I deeply regret that permission to meet the Sakharov laureates was withheld. The European Parliament is nevertheless determined to continue its support for and involvement with the Iranian civil society," Schulz said in a statement.
The cancellation is the third time in a row that the trip has been called off at the last minute. Last year, Iran declined to give visas. In 2010, EU parliament chiefs blocked it after a kindergarten teacher was sentenced to death by stoning for adultery.
The visit to Iran had in any case been criticised by centre-right MEPs, US politicians and Jewish lobby groups. Daniel Schwammenthal, the head of the Brussels office of the American Jewish Committee, had told this website that even if MEPs ask tough questions on human rights in closed-doors meetings, they will end up being shown on TV smiling and shaking hands in a "propaganda victory" for the regime. He had added that it would be "really disheartening" for dissidents such as the Sotoudeh and Panahi to watch the spectacle.
For her part, Cronberg had noted that she had cut meetings from the agenda with people on the EU's Iran sanctions list, such as Iranian chief justice Sadegh Larijani, even though she personally believes the EU sanctions do not work. She admitted it would have been hard to control who actually walks into the meeting room once she is on the ground in Iran, however.
She had added the main purpose of the trip would have been to call for the abolition of the death penalty and that she would have steered clear of the nuclear issue because the EU parliament has no mandate on it.
"There will probably be efforts to this effect [propaganda]. We are aware of this and we will be very clear about the message that we bring," she had said.
Two Iranian dissidents win the Sakharov prize/ MEPs denied access to the dissidents
Most media report that two Iranian activists, lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh and film director Jafar Panahi, won the European Parliament Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought. "The award (…) is a message of solidarity and recognition to a woman and a man who have not been bowed by fear and intimidation and who have decided to put the fate of their country before their own. I sincerely hope they will be able to come in person to Strasbourg to the European Parliament to collect their prize in December," European Parliament President Martin Schulz is quoted as saying. In the meantime, media in France, Italy and Poland, among others, also report that a delegation of MEPs cancelled its trip to Iran this weekend, after the regime denied them access to the two Iranian dissidents who received the Sakharov prize. Jean-Pierre Stroobants comments in Le Monde on the European Parliament's difficulties to hide its dissensions on the policy to adopt towards the regime.
MEPs abandon Iran visit after being refused contact with activists
Scotsman.com
By NASSER KARIMI
Published on Monday 29 October 2012 00:00
A DELEGATION from the European Parliament has called off plans to visit Iran after being refused guarantees that they could visit two jailed activists who have been awarded freedom prizes.
The trip had brought criticism from some conservative European politicians, claiming it sent mixed messages as the European Union tightens sanctions on Iran over its nuclear programme.
A senior Iranian politician, Alaeddin Boroujerdi, blamed Israeli pressure for the cancellation. But Martin Schulz, the European Parliament’s president, said the decision was made after Iranian authorities said the five-member delegation could not visit jailed dissidents Nasrin Sotoudeh and Jafar Panahi.
The parliament awarded the 2012 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought to Soutedeh, a human rights lawyer, and Panahi, a film-maker who won the Camera d’Or at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival. Both were charged with roles in supporting the opposition in post-election unrest in 2009.
The European delegates hoped to personally deliver invitations for the award ceremony in Strasbourg in December.
Tarja Cronberg, a Finn who chairs the European Parliament delegation for relations with Iran, was told by the Iranian ambassador to the European Union on Saturday that it was impossible to guarantee a visit to Tehran’s Evin prison “at such short notice”.
Ms Cronberg then decided to cancel the trip, which had been scheduled include meetings with Iranian politicians and representatives from civil society groups.
“I deeply regret that permission to meet the Sakharov laureates was withheld,” Mr Schulz said. “The European Parliament is nevertheless determined to continue its support for and involvement with the Iranian civil society.”
Mr Boroujerdi, who heads the Iranian parliament’s Committee on National Security, was quoted as saying that the visit was cancelled after Iran rejected preconditions.
EU MEPs cancel Iran visit over rights activists contact
BBC.co.uk
27/10/2012
A visit to Iran by a European Parliament delegation has been called off after Tehran refused to let them visit two jailed activists recently awarded an EU human rights prize.
Lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh and filmmaker Jafar Panahi were named joint winners of the Sakharov prize on Friday.
The five EU politicians had been due to arrive on Saturday and wanted to present the award to the activists.But Iranian media said Tehran could not accept that as a pre-condition.
Hossein Sheikholeslam, an adviser to Iran's parliamentary speaker, was quoted in state media as saying that if the delegation wished to visit under "the initially agreed conditions and agenda" then the government had "no objection". It is not clear what that agenda included.
But the European Parliament delegation leader decided to cancel the visit after receiving a call from the Iranian ambassador to the EU who "said that 'at such short notice' it was impossible to guarantee that the MEPs could personally deliver invitation letters to the Sakharov prize laureates".
EP President Martin Schulz said: "I deeply regret that permission to meet the Sakharov laureates was withheld. The European Parliament is nevertheless determined to continue its support for and involvement with the Iranian civil society."
Nasrin Sotoudeh is serving a six-year jail term at the notorious Evin prison for "acting against the national security" and "propaganda against the regime". She is currently in solitary confinement.
She had defended opposition activists following the disputed June 2009 presidential elections, as well as women and young people.
Jafar Panahi, 52, is well known for his films on life in Iran, but in 2010 he was put under house arrest and banned from filmmaking for 20 years on similar charges.