30/10/2026 President | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
The President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), Petra Bayr, and PACE’s General Rapporteur on the abolition of the death penalty, Gala Veldhoen (Netherlands, SOC), have made the following statement:
“We are appalled by reports that Najmeh Amini, a 23-year-old Iranian student, has been sentenced to death at first instance in Iran for blasphemy in connection with a social media post. Ms Amini’s case is part of a broader pattern of repression targeting protesters, dissenters and political prisoners, particularly women. We urge the Iranian authorities to overturn or commute her sentence.
The imposition of the death penalty for alleged blasphemy is incompatible with Iran’s obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which it is a State Party. In countries that have not abolished capital punishment, its use is restricted to the most serious crimes, understood as crimes of extreme gravity involving intentional killing. Alleged blasphemy clearly falls outside that category.
We call on Council of Europe member states, the EU, as well as Canada and Mexico as observer States, to raise Najmeh Amini’s case urgently with the Iranian authorities and to support diplomatic efforts to protect her life.
The Parliamentary Assembly firmly opposes the death penalty in all circumstances and in all places. We reiterate the Assembly’s call on the Iranian authorities to halt all planned executions and immediately establish a moratorium on the use of the death penalty, with a view to its abolition.”