TEHRAN: Iran accused the European Union on Thursday of "meddling" in its internal affairs by demanding that a detained intellectual accused of trying to undermine the government be given access to a lawyer. "The incoherent views and unusual sensitivity over the arrest of an Iranian is surprising and questionable," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said in response to EU pressure over the case of Ramin Jahanbegloo. Asefi said a statement issued on Monday by Finland, the current holder of the rotating EU presidency, amounts to "meddling in Iran's domestic affairs."
"We advise the Europeans to focus their concerns on the violation of human rights in Europe and the crisis in Palestine," he added. Jahanbegloo, a prominent thinker and writer on democracy and non-violence who has a doctorate from the Sorbonne in Paris, was arrested in early May while trying to leave Iran to attend a conference in Brussels. "The EU is particularly alarmed about the continuing detention of ... Ramin Jahanbegloo, who is well known for his commitment to philosophical and moral principles, non-violence and dialogue," the EU's statement said. It also pointed to "the inherent unreliability of confessions made in prison without adequate legal safeguards," and called on the Iranian authorities to allow Jahanbegloo "immediate access to legal counsel." |