Maria Corrigan (Fianna Fail)

In the past few days there have been very disturbing reports from Iran concerning a young girl who at the age of 14 years was subject to an arranged marriage with a much older man. Within a couple of months she was accused of and found guilty of adultery and sentenced to death by stoning. Because she was 14 years old, it was believed they would hold off from carrying out the sentence until she turned 18 years. She has spent the past four years in prison, where she has been subjected to two mock stonings. I ask the Leader to make contact with the Minister for Foreign Affairs as soon as possible after the Order of Business and urge him to advocate on behalf of this child, who will be sentenced to death by stoning. I also request him to ask our EU colleagues to take up the case on behalf of the young girl. We have signed the Hague Convention and we believe in the rights of the child. This should not go ahead. The fact we have this information makes us responsible for taking some form of action on her behalf.