After the death of the Iranian Jina Mahsa Amini, Reza Shari also took to the streets in Germany. He was arrested while visiting Iran. The German-Iranian is now out on bail – but his trial is still ongoing.
Yesterday, Iranian Jina Mahsa Amini was posthumously awarded the European Parliament’s Sakharov Prize. After her death, the “Woman. Life. Freedom” movement emerged. This also fundamentally changed the life of the Mannheim entrepreneur Reza Shari. The 48-year-old German-Iranian has been stuck in Iran since June.
He took part in protests against the regime in Germany. A trial is now underway against him in Tehran. In a video interview by SWR studios Mannheim he asks the regime for mercy. Iran is holding several German citizens, critics speak of hostages.
“I’m doing well under the circumstances,” he says. “Of course I’m not mentally and psychologically up to date after what happened in prison, but it’s okay.” He is currently experiencing a nightmare.
One month in prison
Reza Shari is sitting in a plain white sweatshirt in front of a bare wall somewhere in Iran, but he doesn’t want to say exactly where. His otherwise perfectly trimmed black beard hasn’t been trimmed in a while. He composes himself and tries not to say anything wrong.
Three months ago he traveled to Iran, as he had done so many times before. Shortly afterwards, security forces arrest him. He spends a month in the notorious Evin prison. Human rights organizations repeatedly report physical and psychological torture there. He couldn’t say how the man from Mannheim experienced his imprisonment. “And to be honest, I don’t want to either. All I can say is that I’m physically fine.”
Reza Shari protested in Germany
The Iranian authorities accuse him of being one of the leaders of the protests in Germany following the death of Jina Mahsa Amini. State media publish a video: It apparently shows Reza Shari in his Mannheim beauty salon. His face is unrecognizable. In his hand he holds a black sweatshirt with a fist in the colors of Iran on it, with the words Mahsa Amini underneath.
The video shows him fighting, he speaks of a women’s revolution in Iran. He can later be seen at a demonstration in Germany against the regime. The Iranian spokeswoman explains that the secret service caught him and other opponents of the regime, even though they were actually out of reach. This can be seen as a warning to activists abroad.
Free on bail
Reza Shari says he came to Iran for work and to visit family. Was he afraid, like many exiled Iranians who avoid the country? One of the many questions without an answer.
He is currently out on bail but is not allowed to leave the country. “There is a process and it is pending, so I cannot comment on it,” he explains. “I want to, but it’s extremely sensitive.” There is no legally binding judgment yet.
Silent diplomacy in Berlin
It is a cry for help that he is sending from Iran. He is risking a lot by going public. The Foreign Office in Berlin usually relies on quiet diplomacy and only explains that they are familiar with the reports on the Mannheimer’s case.
He himself also keeps a low profile when it comes to the question of contact with the German consulate in Tehran: “Logically, you want to have a certain amount of support. But there is a political level, and I’m not yet involved in what’s happening there, and I’d like to be involved too don’t comment.”
Berlin has so far been negotiating in vain in other cases involving German-Iranians that Tehran is holding. In one case there is even a threat of execution.
Iranian regime media repeatedly distribute videos of remorse from arrested demonstrators. There is also such a passage in the video about Reza Shari. Again his face is unrecognizable. A tearful voice, supposedly Reza Shari’s, says in Persian that she made mistakes but is now fully at her service.
Between worries and shooting stars
Reza Shari has lived in Germany for over 30 years. He has built a life for himself in Mannheim with a well-known beauty salon. That’s what he’s worried about now, more than himself, he says.
Reza Shari is extremely tense. When and whether he comes back depends on how the government or the justice system convicts him and then deals with him. “But I hope for mercy. I hope that the leadership, that Ayatollah Khamenei, will pardon me. That’s what I’m asking for,” he says. “And now let’s see.” He shrugs his shoulders helplessly.
Customers and friends from Mannheim send him messages, he says, his face suddenly full of gratitude: “The messages that reach me are like shooting stars for me. They move me and give me a lot of strength,” he says. “And on the other hand, I say, how can I give back so much good that is given to me through messages. I hope I will be back soon.”
He can no longer speak and wipes the tears from his eyes. The pressure is too great.