Taking on “Political Sponsorship” of Iranian Protesters

Four Iranian and Armenian-origin representatives of the Swedish Parliament have taken on “political sponsorship” of four imprisoned protesters in Iran who have been sentenced to death.

Political sponsorship was approved in 2003 at the request of the German government in parliament, to provide political support by parliament representatives for representatives of parliaments in other countries.

In the past, several representatives of the German Parliament had taken on political sponsorship of several detained protesters who had been sentenced to death. Carlos Kasper, a representative member of the Social Democratic Party, accepted political sponsorship of “Saman Seidi,” and Ms. “Ye-Von-Ri,” a Bundestag representative, took on the responsibility of political sponsorship of “Tomaj Salehi.” Now, Iranian representatives in the Swedish Parliament have also taken on “political sponsorship” of several protesters.

Ardalan Shakrabi, representative of the people of Uppsala from the Social Democratic Party in the Swedish Parliament, wrote on his Twitter page: “I, Ardalan Shakrabi, former student of Shahid Asadi Elementary School in Shahriar County, current representative of the people of Uppsala in the Swedish Parliament, am taking on political sponsorship of Mehdi Karami. Stop the executions.”

Azadeh Rajhan, another representative of the Swedish Parliament, also posted a tweet stating: “I, Azadeh Rajhan, born in Tehran and current representative of the people of Stockholm County in the Swedish Parliament, am taking on political sponsorship of Farzaneh Ghare-Hasanlu. Stop the executions.”

Another Iranian-origin representative in the Swedish Parliament named Alireza Akhondi from the Centre Party also announced: “I am taking on political sponsorship of Reza Aria, who has been sentenced to death for peaceful protest. He also stated that this political commitment has no legal effect in Sweden, but is accepted in Iran. Stop the executions.”

The question now arises: given that parliament representatives in various countries have taken on “political sponsorship,” will the Islamic Republic cease executions of protesters, or will these aforementioned young people still face the danger of execution? What reaction and consequences will the execution of those individuals placed under political sponsorship have?