BACKGROUND:

According to reports from Iran, Saeed Sedighi and several other prisoners are scheduled to be executed on Monday, October 22.The families of these prisoners have been told to visit their death row family members for the last time today.

Saeed Sedighi and ten other prisoners convicted of drug-related charges were scheduled to be executed on Thursday October 11, then the date was changed to Saturday October 13., but the executions were postponed because of the international attention and attempts by Saeed Sedighi’s family members.According to reports received by the group Iran Human RIghts (IHR) several of these prisoners have been subjected to torture and unfair trials.

Saeed Sedighi had access to his lawyer only 15 minutes prior to his trial that lasted about 15 minutes.

Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, the spokesperson of IHR, said: ”According to international standards, the death sentences for Mr. Sedighi and the other prisoners are unlawful and must be stopped." He added: ”We urge the UN, EU and countries with diplomatic ties with Iran to use all their channels to stop these executions."

Saeed's mother has issued the following plea to the international community:

With a visit by a European Parliament delegation, headed by Tarja Cronberg, to Tehran scheduled for October 27 we urge you to join this Urgent Action to demand that this delegation make its scheduled trip contingent upon the regime in Iran halting these executions!

Please see below for a sample appeal letter and the addresses to which to send it,. Also included is a portal where you can copy and paste your appeal to the European Parliament group which is heading the planned delegation to Tehran

.Send email appeal to the following addresses:aldegroup@europarl.europa.eu droi-secretariat@europarl.europa.eu joseignacio.salafranca@europarl.europa.eu elmar.brok@europarl.europa.eu sr-iran@ohchr.org tthanda@ohchr.org srhumanrights@gmail.com tarja.cronberg@europarl.europa.eu InfoDesk@ohchr.org marietje.schaake@europarl.europa.eu droi-secretariat@europarl.europa.eu afet-secretariat@europarl.europa.eu

PLEASE ALSO COPY AND PASTE YOUR APPEAL ON THE FOLLOWING FORM TO THE GREENS/EUROPEAN FREE ALLIANCE, WHO ARE HEADING THE PLANNED DELEGATION TO TEHRAN:

http://www.greens-efa.eu/10-contact.html

SAMPLE APPEAL:HEADING: URGENT!! SAEED SEDIGHI AND 10 OTHERS IN IRAN TO BE EXECUTED!!!

SAMPLE APPEAL:

Your Excellency,In light of the alarming reports that Saeed Sadeghi and 10 others are to be executed in Iran tomorrow, Monday, October 22, we urge you to act now to make any planned trip to Tehran by a European Parliament delegation WHOLLY contingent upon their lives being spared!

Saeed Sedighi and ten other prisoners convicted of drug-related charges were scheduled to be executed on Thursday October 11, then the date was changed to Saturday October 13., but the executions were postponed because of the international attention and attempts by Saeed Sedighi’s family members.

According to reports, several of these prisoners have been subjected to torture and unfair trials. Saeed Sedighi had access to his lawyer only 15 minutes prior to his trial that lasted about 15 minutes.

As you must be aware, Iran has been second only to the People's Republic of China in the number of prisoners executed for the last few years. According to reports from human rights groups that document executions in Iran from both official and unofficial sources, roughly 650 executions were carried out in 2010 and 676 in 2011. So far, in 2012, at least 330 individuals have been executed. Of these executions, it is estimated that more than 70% are of individuals sentenced to death under the Islamic Republic’s Anti-Narcotics Law, which mandates the death penalty for a wide range of drug-related offenses.

There is also widespread concern, owing to (among other factors): the lack of due process, the torture used to extract "confessions", and the secrecy which shrouds many of the mass hangings--that at least a portion of these executions involve political "offenses."

We can only remind you that people around the world are watching not only the behavior of the Islamic Republic authorities, but also that of the designated European Parliament delegates and other members of the international community to see how they will act to avert this tragedy.PLEASE LET THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC KNOW THAT THERE WILL BE NO "BUSINESS AS USUAL" IF THESE EXECUTIONS PROCEED!

Sincerely

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Please also consider faxing your appeal or phoning in your concerns to the Green/European Free Alliance at the following:

Brussels Tel.: +32-2-2845374  Fax: +32-2-2849374

Strasbourg Tel.: +33-3-88175374Fax: +33-3-88179374