human rights
Death sentence against German-Iranians confirmed
The undated photo shows the German-Iranian Djamshid Sharmahd in a Tehran Revolutionary Court. photo
© Koosha Falahi/Mizan/dpa/dpa
Tehran confirms the internationally sharply criticized death sentence against the opposition German-Iranian Sharmahd. Reactions from Germany follow promptly.
Iran’s Supreme Court has upheld the controversial death sentence against German-Iranian Djamshid Sharmahd. Justice spokesman Massoud Setayeschi said. The corresponding measures for enforcement should be initiated as soon as the competent court has been informed, Setajeschi said. An exact time was not known.
A revolutionary court held the 68-year-old responsible for a terrorist attack in February. The court also charged him with cooperation with foreign secret services. The allegations cannot be verified. Death penalty in Iran is usually carried out by hanging.
The human rights organization Amnesty International called on the German government to draw diplomatic conclusions. “The Iranian judiciary has once again used its human rights-violating practice of confirming death sentences after unfair trials,” said Iran expert Dieter Karg, according to Amnesty.
“At no time the approach of a fair trial”
Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) wrote on Twitter: “We call on Iran to reverse this arbitrary judgment immediately.” The confirmation of Sharmahd’s death sentence was unacceptable. “Jamshid Sharmahd never had a fair trial approach,” said Baerbock. We are doing all we can for Sharmahd and against the execution of the sentence. The German ambassador in Iran immediately canceled a business trip and is on his way back to Tehran to intervene with the Iranian authorities.
Sharmahd’s daughter, Gazelle, criticized the federal government for acting too slowly. “I’ve been warning for 1,000 days that this will happen. The fact that my father is about to be executed is the result of our government’s inaction,” she told the “Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung”. “Where were the serious consequences that Ms. Baerbock spoke of when a German citizen was kidnapped and sentenced to death in a show trial?” she said.
CDU leader Friedrich Merz, who had taken over Sharmahd’s political sponsorship, was shocked on Twitter. “I call on the regime in Iran again to allow Jamshid Sharmahd to leave Germany for his home country immediately!” wrote Merz.
SPD leader Saskia Esken told the German Press Agency that the confirmation of the death sentence had no legal basis and should not be accepted. She spoke of “mafia-like means” from Tehran and also criticized the procedure as grossly unfair. “We must pull out all the stops to avert the execution of Jamshid Sharmahd,” Esken said.
Involvement in the US in the exile opposition group “Tondar”
Sharmahd was reportedly arrested by Iranian intelligence in Dubai in the summer of 2020 and taken to Iran. Since then he has been imprisoned in Tehran. Sharmahd previously lived in the United States for years. His family and human rights groups have previously denied allegations against him.
Sharmahd was involved in the exile opposition group “Tondar” (Thunder) in the USA, which advocates a return to the monarchy. Iran’s judiciary holds the organization responsible for an attack in a mosque in the city of Shiras in 2008 that killed several people. Three men have already been executed in connection with this.
Several European nationals are currently detained in Iran, many of whom also have Iranian passports. Iran treats dual nationals legally as Iranians. Critics accuse Tehran of holding foreign nationals as political hostages. Iran denies the allegations and usually justifies the arrests with allegations of espionage.