Afkari was executed in Iran on Saturday, according to Iran’s state-run news agency IRNA, despite a high-profile international campaign calling for the sentence not to be carried out.The 27-year-old was executed at a prison in Shiraz, according to IRNA. He had been sentenced to death in relation to the murder of the Iranian government’s water and sewage department’s security agent Hasan Turkman during the August 2018 protests in Shiraz, according to Iran’s state media Mizan.”Human rights remain a central feature of our engagement with Iran,” said a statement by the EU’s spokesperson, issued on Monday.”We will continue to engage with Iranian authorities on this issue including through the local EU representation in Tehran and also on individual cases such as this recent execution.”The European Union is opposed to the death penalty under all circumstances and cases with no exception. It is a cruel and inhumane punishment, which fails to act as a deterrent and represents an unacceptable denial of human dignity and integrity.”

The International Olympic Committee said it was “shocked” by the announcement.”In letters, Thomas Bach, the IOC President, had made direct personal appeals to the Supreme Leader and to the President of Iran this week and asked for mercy for Navid Afkari, while respecting the sovereignty of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” a statement said.”It is deeply upsetting that the pleas of athletes from around the world and all the behind-the-scenes work of the IOC, together with the NOC of Iran, United World Wrestling and the National Iranian Wrestling Federation, did not achieve our goal.”

Iran’s judiciary spokesperson Gholam Hossein Esmaeili was quoted by the Tehran Municipality’s daily newspaper Hamshari as saying on Wednesday that Afkari had been sentenced to the Islamic verdict of ghesas [qisas] or “retribution-in-kind.”

According to Hamshari, Esmaeili said Afkari was required to appease the victim’s family by paying a restitution. If he was unable to do so, the judiciary would be required to carry out the death sentence, because the case had already been reviewed by the Supreme Court and because the courts said he had already confessed to killing Hassan Turkman.

IRNA reported on Saturday that Afkari was executed after the victim’s family refused to forgive him and allow him to pay restitutions.Afkari’s lawyer Hassan Younesi told CNN that philanthropists had gone to the city of Shiraz and were trying to raise money to pay the restitution, but it was too late — the Shiraz judiciary informed Afkari’s family the sentence was already carried out and they didn’t get to say goodbye.

The World Players Association, an international body that represents professional athletes, had protested the sentence and called for Iran to be threatened with expulsion from international sport, including from the Olympic movement, if the execution was carried out.”

Navid was one of thousands of Iranian citizens who took part in spontaneous demonstrations that year against economic hardship and political repression in Iran,” said a statement from the WPA. “However, he has been unjustly targeted by the Iranian authorities who want to make an example out of a popular, high-profile athlete and intimidate others who might dare exercise their human right to participate in peaceful protest.”

WPA said in the statement that Afkari was “sentenced to death twice after being tortured into making a false confession.”Addressing the protests, Esmaeili said, according to the Tehran newspaper, that the campaign aimed at stopping the execution led the judiciary to provide a videotaped confession and re-enactments carried out by Afkari himself to Iranian State TV IRIB.

Afkari’s case sparked interest beyond the sports circles. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch called for an international intervention and a new trial.US President Donald Trump got involved last week, asking the Iranian leaders last to spare Afkari’s life. “Hearing that Iran is looking to execute a great and popular wrestling star, 27-year-old Navid Afkari, whose sole act was an anti-government demonstration on the streets. They were protesting the ‘country’s worsening economic situation and inflation,'” Trump tweeted.”To the leaders of Iran, I would greatly appreciate if you would spare this young man’s life, and not execute him. Thank you!,” he added.

BRUSSELS (AP) — German Chancellor Angela Merkel, top European Union officials, and Chinese President Xi Jinping are holding talks Monday focused on trade, giving impetus to slow-moving talks on an investment agreement and building trust to tackle thorny political issues that are harming their ties.

Merkel, whose country currently holds the EU’s rotating presidency, will be joined by Council President Charles Michel, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and the bloc’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, for the videoconference, due to start at 1200 GMT.

The talks between two of the three largest economies and traders in the world will allow them to take stock of their ties, with the Europeans wanting to focus on economic issues, reform of the World Trade Organization, climate change, and the coronavirus pandemic.

The EU sees China as a “systemic rival” offering great opportunities but also presenting many challenges, and the pandemic has created new obstacles, notably what Brussels sees as a China-orchestrated campaign of disinformation about the disease that could put lives at risk.

China has been accused of trying to influence European officials, and Borrell has twice denied this year that the External Action Service — a kind of EU foreign office that he leads — has bowed to Beijing’s pressure to alter documents.

While the 27-nation EU — China’s biggest trading partner — is often divided in its approach to Beijing, the security law recently imposed on Hong Kong has galvanized the bloc, and member countries insist it is undermining the territory’s autonomy guaranteed in the “one country, two systems” framework.

The Europeans are expected to underline their concerns about Hong Kong and tensions in the South China Sea during Monday’s talks, and renew their call for having a human rights dialogue with Chinese officials later this year.

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TAIPEI (TCA) — Member countries of the European Union (EU) are set to hold their first forum in Taipei to pitch investment opportunities directly to Taiwanese companies, according to the top EU envoy to Taiwan, Focus Taiwan reported.

It is in the interest of Taiwanese businesses to increase their presence in Europe, especially at a time when global supply chains are being restructured due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Filip Grzegorzewski, the head of the European Economic and Trade Office (EETO) in Taiwan, said in an exclusive interview with CNA (Focus Taiwan) on September 11.

Taiwan has the potential to become one of the EU’s top partners, especially in the ICT, automobile, mobility, health and biotech sectors, which Taiwan champions, Grzegorzewski said.

In view of this, EETO will host the first ever EU Investment Forum (EIF) on September 22 at the Taipei International Convention Center, with 15 EU member states participating, he said.

Participants will include all EU members that have a presence in Taiwan, he said, including Poland, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy and Slovakia.

The forum will use video links to connect investment agencies from those countries to potential investors in Taiwan, enabling them to interact on various topics, including business incentives, Grzegorzewski said, describing the forum as an important milestone to Taiwan-EU relations.

According to EETO data, the EU was the biggest investor in Taiwan in 2019, accounting for about 25 percent of Taiwan’s foreign direct investment. However, only 1.7 percent of Taiwanese investments abroad goes to the EU.

Considering Taiwan’s economic strength, it has the potential to be a global presence and the European market presents untapped potential for it, Grzegorzewski said.

“We have 41 trade agreements across the globe that cover 72 countries. So, once you put an investment in Europe, you get access to not only the whole market of the EU, you can reach out to the rest of the world easily,” he said.

Although it is easier for Taiwanese investors to go to Southeast Asia or China due to their geographical proximity, Grzegorzewski said investing in Europe is not particularly difficult and brings with it a lot of benefits.

“By getting closer to consumers, by getting access to a highly educated workforce, and by getting access to a market with the same standards, you cut costs,” he said, adding that Taiwan does not have to rely on cheap labor in neighboring countries because Taiwan’s industries are no longer labor-intensive.

Around 300 refugees and migrants had by Sunday evening moved into a new camp facility being built by the Greek army in a former military shooting range in Kara Tepe, on the island of Lesbos.

Soldiers have set up between 300 and 350 tents and continued working into the night.

But many of the refugees and migrants are reluctant to move into a new camp that will be manned by police. They fear it will be a prison.

Meanwhile, almost 10,000 prepared to sleep rough another night in the stretch of the road between Kara Tepe and the outskirts of Mytilene, the capital of Lesbos.

Greece’s prime minister demanded on Sunday that the European Union take a greater responsibility for managing migration into the bloc, as Greek authorities promised that 12,000 migrants and asylum-seekers left homeless after fire gutted an overcrowded camp would be moved shortly to a new tent city.

Kyriakos Mitsotakis blamed some residents at the Moria camp on Lesbos for trying to blackmail his government by deliberately setting the fires that destroyed the camp last week. But he said this could be an opportunity to improve how the EU handles a key challenge.

“It (the burning of Moria) was a tragedy. These images were bad. It was a warning bell to all to become sensitized. Europe cannot afford a second failure on the migration issue,” Mitsotakis said Sunday at a press conference in the northern city of Thessaloniki.

Human rights activists have long deplored the squalor at the Moria refugee camp, which was built to house 2,750 but was filled with some 12,500 people who fled across the sea from Turkey.

Since the fires, which came after the camp faced a coronavirus lockdown, thousands of people have camped out in the open on highway near Moria under police guard. Many have protested the Greek government for refusing to allow the homeless migrants to leave Lesbos for the Greek mainland. Greek residents are also unhappy that their island is being used as a dumping ground for migrants.

Mitsotakis said he has been in touch with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel over the reallocation of at least some migrants from Moria, but he said there will be a new, permanent refugee camp on Lesbos.

The Greek army has been setting up tents at a former artillery range, about 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) from the old camp.

Migration Minister Notis Mitarakis said an estimated 1,000 Moria residents would be relocated to the army-built tent city late Sunday and that getting everyone housed at the new site would take several days.

“At the moment, it’s happening on a voluntary basis,” Mitarakis told Greek TV station Open TV.

Mitarakis said those entering the new camp would undergo rapid testing for coronavirus and that five new cases have been found so far.

At the Vatican, Pope Francis expressed solidarity Sunday with the migrants on Lesbos and called for “dignified” welcome for them. Francis had visited the Moria camp in 2016, bringing back to Rome with him 12 Syrian refugees.

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