Green Party MPs have joined politicians from across Europe to sponsor political prisoners detained in Iran during the recent protests - and urges MPs from all political parties to do the same.

“Our MPs pledge to tell prisoners’ stories, to say their names, and to work to secure their release,” says the Green Party’s human rights spokesperson, Golriz Ghahraman.

Sponsoring MPs agree to lobby for the safety of individual prisoners, including asking for information on their whereabouts and publicising their plight.

“Our sponsored prisoners are activists from all walks of life, from well-known rap artists, to members of marginalised groups, who all showed unimaginable courage to protest the Iranian regime for equality and freedom, knowing that they could face torture and death.

“Highlighting these individual cases of injustice will help focus attention on the human rights situation in Iran and put pressure on the regime.

“Each of these activists hold a special place for us as MPs. One of the prisoners I am sponsoring, for example, Niloofar Hamedi is a journalist who first broke the story of the murder of 22-year-old Kurdish woman, Mahsa Amini, at the hands of the ‘Morality Police’. Nioofar exposed the brutality of the regime against women and I want to do for her what she did for all Iranian women.

“Aida Rasti, is a member of the Baha’i community, extremely oppressed in Iran and thereby at greatest risk of harm in custody. She has received less public attention than other protesters, but it is important to me personally to raise the voices of all those at risk before it’s too late. We know the Iranian regime is using violence, sexual assault, torture and execution to scare protesters and end the movement for equality and freedom in Iran.

“More than 18,000 political prisoners have been taken by the Islamic Republic of #Iran in recent weeks. We only know the names of around 3,000. Each has a family and friends, who have mostly been kept from any contact with their disappeared loved ones.

“What the Iranian Regime is doing amounts to crimes against humanity, and is against our global idea of the right to protest and how prisoners must be treated in law. Aotearoa New Zealand has an obligation to act. Imprisoning brave Iranians on bogus charges is a violation the United Nations Convention against Torture & the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

“The Green Party stand with the brave people of Iran as they face death and torture for freedom,” says Golriz Ghahraman.

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