An urgent appeal to the President of Iran, Mr. Hassan Rouhani, and to the Head of Iranian judiciary, Mr. Sadeq Larijani

Brussels, 27.01.2016

This is an urgent appeal to the President of Iran, Mr. Hassan Rouhani, and to the Head of Iranian judiciary, Mr. Sadeq Larijani

Dr. Mohammed Ali Tahiri (born 1956) is not a political activist. He has legally founded a psychological institute which advocated fostering physical and mental health.  Dr. Tahiri's teaching (interuniversalism) and methods became popular among tens of thousands of Iranians. He was arrested in 2010 by intelligence services, accused of blasphemy, apostasy, insulting the Prophet and thus undermining national security, and was condemned to death. Mr. Tahiri's death sentence was based on a law that was adopted three years after his detention.

We are relieved that following the international appeals, Mr. Tahiri's death sentence has not been carried out and that his 5-years prison sentence is coming to an end on February 7, 2016.

We view the release of Mr. Tahiri as an indicator of Iran's opening up to the normal international relationship and also as a step towards ensuring human rights to its citizens. Iranian judiciary has yet to confirm the date of Mr. Tahiri's release. At the same time, we are worried about signals that the authorities may have plans to keep Mr. Tahiri in prison based on new false accusations. 

Dr Tahiri has spent by now five years in solitary confinement.  To protest his innocence, he has undertaken numerous hunger strikes, one of which lasted for 70 days. As a result of mistreatment and hunger strikes, Mr. Tahiri's physical and mental state of health is continuously critical.

Therefore we, Members of European Parliament, would like to convey to you our concern about Mr Tahiri’s state of health and ask for his immediate and unconditional release from the Evin Prison. 

Tunne Kelam MEP

Andrey Kovachev MEP

Petri Sarvamaa MEP

Wim van de Camp MEP

Cristian Preda MEP

Bendt Bendtsen MEP

László Tőkés MEP

Marijana Petir MEP

Alojz Peterle MEP

Eduard Kukan MEP