The European Union is deeply concerned by the situation of Mr Emaddedin Baghi, president of the Society to Defend Prisoners' Rights and campaigner against the death penalty in Iran, who has been serving a one-year prison term since 14 October 2007 for "activities against national security" and "publicity in favour of the regime's opponents". After having been granted a temporary release on medical grounds following severe heart problems on 17 June 2008, Mr Baghi was returned on 1 July to Tehran's Evin prison, where his health is continuing to suffer even though his physical condition would warrant hospitalisation.

The European Union strongly condemns the judicial harassment to which Mr Baghi has been subjected for many years on account of his work to promote human rights and freedom of expression. It calls on the Iranian authorities to guarantee his physical and psychological integrity and provide him with medical treatment in a hospital outside the prison in which he is being detained. 

The European Union is concerned by the judicial repression of human rights defenders and their families on the part of the Iranian authorities. That practice contravenes the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, freely adopted and ratified by Iran, and the Declaration on the Right and Responsibility of Individuals, Groups and Organs of Society to Promote and Protect Universally Recognized Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, adopted by all members of the United Nations in 1998. The European Union urges Iran to stand by its international commitments and ensure full freedom of opinion and expression for the Iranian people.

The Candidate Countries Turkey, Croatia* and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia*, Country of the Stabilisation and Association Process and potential candidate Albania and the EFTA countries Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, members of the European Economic Area, as well as the Republic of Moldova align themselves with this declaration.

* Croatia and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia continue to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process.