human rights
Death sentence against German-Iranian Sharmahd confirmed
The undated photo shows the German-Iranian Djamshid Sharmahd in a Tehran Revolutionary Court. photo
© Koosha Falahi/Mizan/dpa/dpa
A revolutionary court accuses the German-Iranian of having planned a terrorist attack. Now the death sentence against Djamshid Sharmahd has been confirmed. Godfather Friedrich Merz is shocked.
Iran’s Supreme Court has upheld the controversial death sentence against German-Iranian Djamshid Sharmahd. Justice spokesman Massoud Setayeschi said on Wednesday. It was not immediately known when the death penalty would be carried out.
A revolutionary court held the 67-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.
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.
arrested abroad
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.