President Jerzy Buzek opened this week's Strasbourg session by highlighting the case of Ms Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, sentenced to death by stoning in Iran. He noted that she had also been sentenced to 99 lashes after her case was reported in the European media, and urged the Iranian authorities to reconsider the case in a fair, transparent manner. He reiterated that the European Parliament opposes the death penalty in any circumstances.
In view of the urgency of this case, Parliament's debate on it was brought forward from Thursday to Monday evening, with a vote at midday on Wednesday.
A vote on the parliamentary immunity of Lithuanian MEP Viktor Uspaskich (ALDE) was added to Tuesday midday.
Finally, a number of MEPs contested the decision of the Conference of Presidents (group leaders) on Thursday to check MEPs' presence at the State of the Union debate with Commission President Barroso on Tuesday morning. President Buzek stressed the importance of the debate, given Parliament's new responsibilities under the Lisbon Treaty. He noted that no other meetings were scheduled at the same time and urged all MEPs to attend. President Buzek said that the Bureau (the President and Vice-Presidents) would have another look at the matter on Monday night and would then take a final decision.
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