http://en.mirzexezerinsesi.net/articles/2007/02/23/prioritized-question-to-the-european-commission-regarding-abbas-lisani en-us 40 Eva-Britt Svensson, a Swedish member of the European Parliament (member of the Swedish Left Party), has in a prioritized question to the European commission asked what the commission intends to do in the case of Mr. Abbas Lisani and for the general political and cultural repression of the Azerbaijanis in Iran. Ms. Svensson states in her question that Lisani is one of the most prominent human-rights activists in Iran and that he should be released immediately. The question has been formally handed in by Ms. Eva-Britt Svensson from the Swedish Left Party, but two other Swedish members of the European Parliament has decided to put aside the fact that they belong to different political parties than Ms. Svensson and to join her initiative and undersign the question. Among them is Mr. Carl Schlyter (Green Party) who has previously engaged in Mr. Lisani´s case by writing a letter to Ayatollah Khameneyi, but also Ms. Inger Segelström from the Social-Democratic Party. Ms. Inger Segelström is the spokesperson in foreign affairs question for the entire Swedish Social-Democratic delegation in the European Parliament. The difference between a prioritized question and a regular question to the European commission is that the commission has to answer the prioritized question within three weeks, while an ordinary question is normally not answered earlier than 2-3 months after it has been handed in. Thus, a prioritized question is an effective tool to, in a relatively short period of time, receive the attention of the commission in specific questions. (Nergiz Nedayi) _________________________________ Full text: Parliamentary questions 19 February 2007 P-0921/07 WRITTEN QUESTION by Eva-Britt Svensson (GUE/NGL) to the Commission Subject: Abbas Lisani, Azerbaijani political prisoner and prisoner of conscience in Iran Abbas Lisani, an ethnic Azerbaijani and one of the most prominent human rights activists in Iran, has been imprisoned since 31 October 2006 for his involvement in the campaign for non-Persians' cultural rights in Iran. Abbas Lisani is conducting his campaign in accordance with the Iranian Constitution, paragraph 15 of which states that minority groups have the right to use their own language, apart from Persian, in the press, media and for school tuition(1). In Lisani's case, Iran has contravened its own constitution through the judicial process. Abbas Lisani has been convicted for having advocated that minority groups should have the right to express themselves in their own language, i.e. that the constitution should be observed. It is also feared that due process has not taken place and that the prosecuting authority in Ardabil did not give him a fair and impartial trial either in terms of judging the facts or the manner in which the legal procedure was conducted(2). 1. What does the Commission intend to do in the case of Abbas Lisani? In view of the fact that Lisani is imprisoned for his involvement in the campaign for the cultural rights of Azerbaijanis, rights which are enshrined in the Iranian Constitution, he should be released immediately. 2. What does the Commission intend to do to highlight the general, cultural and political repression of Azerbaijanis in Iran? Fri, 23 Feb 2007 05:39:00 -0500 urn:uuid:397ed787-aa7e-40cf-b928-e59989846c05 Mirza Khazar http://en.mirzexezerinsesi.net/articles/2007/02/23/prioritized-question-to-the-european-commission-regarding-abbas-lisani News