Written declaration No. 631 | Doc. 14356 | 28 June 2017

Protest against the death penalty in Egypt

Signatories: Mr Talip KÜÇÜKCAN, Turkey, EC ; Ms Thorhildur Sunna ÆVARSDÓTTIR, Iceland, NR ; Mr Vilhjálmur ÁRNASON, Iceland, EC ; Mr Deniz BAYKAL, Turkey, SOC ; Ms Lütfiye İlksen CERİTOĞLU KURT, Turkey, EC ; Mr Alain DESTEXHE, Belgium, ALDE ; Mr Nigel EVANS, United Kingdom, EC ; Ms Nino GOGUADZE, Georgia, EC ; Ms Emine Nur GÜNAY, Turkey, EC ; Mr Carles JORDANA, Andorra, ALDE ; Ms Anne KALMARI, Finland, ALDE ; Mr Erkan KANDEMİR, Turkey, EC ; Mr İlhan KESİCİ, Turkey, SOC ; Mr Haluk KOÇ, Turkey, SOC ; Mr Eerik-Niiles KROSS, Estonia, ALDE ; Mr Ian LIDDELL-GRAINGER, United Kingdom, EC ; Mr Mikayel MELKUMYAN, Armenia, EC ; Ms Hermine NAGHDALYAN, Armenia, EC ; Mr Suat ÖNAL, Turkey, EC ; Ms Serap YAŞAR, Turkey, EC ; Ms Naira ZOHRABYAN, Armenia, EC

This written declaration commits only those who have signed it.

On 7 June 2017, Egypt’s Court of Cassation, upheld death sentences against Ahmed Meshaly, Ibrahim Azab, Mahmoud Wahba, Khaled Askar, Abd el-Rahman Atteia and Ahmed El-Velid, Bassim Muhsin.

They were arrested in 2014 and sentenced to death after a series of flawed and unfair political trials.

The Egyptian authorities must immediately stop these executions and order a fair re-trial for these men, without resorting to the death penalty or relying on torture-tainted evidence.

We do not intend to declare support for any of the parties of the political conflict in Egypt, but we are most concerned about the manner of conducting the trial and the sentence passed.

We believe that using death penalty as a tool in the fight against political opponents cannot be accepted by the international community.

We emphasize the fact that any dialogue engaged in by the Council of Europe, the European Union and the other European organizations with Egypt must be subordinate to respect for fundamental human rights.

The undersigned members of the Parliamentary Assembly appeal to the Egyptian authorities to introduce a moratorium on the use of the capital punishment.