An international press freedom group has asked U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to pressure Iran into halting the executions of two Iranian journalists.
Reporters Without Borders said in a news release Tuesday that it wrote to Mr. Ban urging him to try and help the Kurdish journalists, Adnan Hassanpour and Abdolvahed "Hiva" Botimar, who both wrote for the magazine Asou before it was banned in 2005.
The two were sentenced to death in July on charges of being "enemies of God."
The European Union, which opposes the death penalty in all cases, has called on Iran not to carry out the death sentences. The EU said it is particularly troubled by the repression of Iranians who try to freely express opinions, especially those in minority Arab and Kurd regions.
