Four years ago, the German-Iranian Sharmahd was kidnapped for Iran. The judges accused him of terrorism and sentenced him to death in 2023. Now he has been executed – despite international criticism.
German-Iranian dual citizen Jamshid Sharmahd was executed in Iran. As announced by the official portal of justice Misan, the execution took place this morning.
The federal government has in the past called for the verdict to be overturned and Sharmahd to be released. Until recently, Iranian judges denied consular access – a common practice to prisoners with Iranian citizenship.
A revolutionary court convicted Sharmahd of terror charges in the spring of 2023. His background is probably the exiled Iranian opposition group “Tondar” (Thunder). The Iranian government accuses the monarchist organization of being responsible for an attack in the city of Shiraz in 2008 that left many people dead. According to Islamic legal belief, Sharmahd was convicted of “corrupting the world.”
The Supreme Court of Iran confirmed the death sentence in April 2023. The allegations cannot be verified. Sharmahd’s family and human rights activists strongly rejected the allegations and fought to save him to the end. His daughter Gazelle, who lives in the US, has regularly accused the Foreign Office of inaction.
He lived in the USA for years
Sharmahd was born in the Iranian capital Tehran, grew up in Germany and recently lived in the US. In the summer of 2020, he was kidnapped under mysterious circumstances during a trip from Dubai to Iran; some reports speak of abduction by Iranian intelligence. Since then he has been in solitary confinement. He had lived in the USA for years before that.
Critics said the trial was unfair against him. Sharmahd was not allowed to choose his own lawyer and his whereabouts were unknown until the end. A confession broadcast on state television may have been obtained under torture.
The death sentence is likely to lead to new tensions in diplomatic relations between Tehran and Berlin. Although Iran strictly enforces the death penalty, executions of Western foreigners are extremely rare.
Baerbock announces “serious consequences”.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz wrote about a “scandal” on Platform X. “Jamshid Sharmahd was not even given the opportunity to defend himself in the trial against the allegations made against him,” said the SPD politician. “The federal government has worked hard time and time again for Mr. Sharmahd. My deepest condolences to his family.”
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Annalena Baerbock, also strongly condemned the death. “Jamshid Sharmahd was kidnapped from Dubai to Iran, held for years without a fair trial and now he has been killed,” the Green Party politician explained. “My deepest condolences to his family, with whom we have always been and remain in close contact, for this terrible loss.”
They worked on the case every day in Berlin. High-level staff have been sent to Iran several times. “We have repeatedly made it clear to Tehran that the execution of a German national will have serious consequences.” The Minister spoke of an “inhumane regime” that operates against its own population and foreign nationals. “This shows that clearly no one is safe even under the new government.”
Merz calls for the expulsion of the Iranian ambassador
The leader of the CDU, Friedrich Merz, who accepted political sponsorship, strongly criticized the execution and called on the federal government to expel the Iranian ambassador. “The execution of the death sentence against our fellow citizen Jamshid Sharmahd is a heinous crime,” he told Reuters. The trial against him is a mockery of international standards of constitutional procedures. “I call on the federal government to respond decisively.”
The “quiet diplomacy” approach has failed. “Relations with Iran should be examined in light of the state’s planned killing of German citizens,” Merz said. “The Iranian ambassador must be expelled.”
Renata Alt (FDP), chairman of the Bundestag Committee on Human Rights and Humanitarian Aid, spoke of “terrible news”. The brutal execution was “further evidence that constructive negotiations with this terrorist regime are impossible.”
Uwe Lueb, ARD Istanbul, tagesschau, October 28, 2024 6:46 pm