IMPRISONED IRANIAN PASTOR

Early day motion 1174, tabled 12 March 2013 by Gary Streeter (Conservative). Signed by 103 members.

That this House notes with great concern the continued detention in Evin prison, Tehran, of Farshid Fathi, an Iranian pastor arrested on 26 December 2010 on account of his Christian faith; further notes the Iranian regime's fallacious and deceptive attempts to suggest that Mr Fathi has committed crimes of a political nature; deplores the sentence handed down to him of six years in prison for his Christian beliefs; and asks that the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs publicly calls for the release of Mr Fathi so that he might be reunited with his wife and two young children, and with regard to this matter and all its citizens generally, for Iran to fulfill its obligations under its own constitution and international law by allowing freedom of religion for its citizens.

Signatures by party: Labour 41, Liberal Democrat 24, Conservative 22, DUP 7, Scottish National Party 3, Social Democratic and Labour Party 3, Alliance 1, Independent 1, Plaid Cymru 1.