WE STAND WITH IRANIAN YOUNG PEOPLE FIGHTING FOR FREEDOM: IF YOU HIT ONE OF THEM, YOU HIT ALL OF HUMANITY.

MARISA LAURITO, LUCIANO STELLA, TOSCA, EDOARDO BENNATO, NINO DANIELE, ANDREA MORNIROLI, DESIREE KLAIN, ALFREDO GUARDIANO, GIANNI PINTO, together with a group of artists, intellectuals and civil society volunteers who care about the fate of the Iranian people, ask for:

the end of the executions and the release of arrested protesters.

IRAN

It was September 16, 2022 when Masha Amini, a young Kurdish woman, was killed in Tehran while in the custody of the moral police. Since then, thousands of brave people have peacefully demonstrated against the Islamic Regime in Iran. A regime that responded only with violence and atrocities. To date, over 18,000 protesters have been arrested and dozens of them risk being executed soon.

The world knows what is happening in the Islamic Republic and can no longer remain silent. We see women and men being arrested, raped, tortured and killed just for protesting for their basic rights. We are aware of numerous mutilations, sexual violence, group rapes, organs removed, corpses not handed over to family members and buried in unknown places. We know of unfair trials with no appeals, no lawyers, no witnesses and no evidence. Young people declared dead by suicide, but with evident signs of beatings and bone fractures. We have seen photos of minors mercilessly killed, of boys and girls poisoned in university canteens, of protesters shot in the face or genitals, of men and women without eyes because they were hit by bullets. We know of funerals that were not granted and of numerous people who disappeared just for having requested news of their loved ones. We learned of the use of hallucinogenic drugs by the security forces, with the aim of beating the rioters more violently.

In the light of the above, it is evident that the Islamic Republic of Iran is violating all the principles of the 'Universal Declaration of Human Rights' of which it is a signatory and which is based on the indivisible and universal values ​​of human dignity, freedom, equality and solidarity.

We call on Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei for an immediate end to the executions and an end to the regime's crackdown on the Iranian people. We want all Iranian men and women to be given the opportunity to express their desperation towards the "Iranian system". A regime that for about 44 years has never granted the fundamental right of every human being: freedom.

We ask the President of the European Commission Von Der Leyen to implement all the initiatives within the competence of the Union to ensure respect of fundamental rights in Iran.