News

Iran executed an EU citizen

Author:
Liza Brovko
Date:

Koosha Mahshid Falahi / Mizan News Agency / AP

German-Iranian citizen Jamshid Sharmakhd was executed in Iran on charges of " spreading corruption " related to the 2008 terrorist attack. Amnesty International said he was forced to "confess".

This was reported by the chief diplomat of the EU Josep Borrell and the German TV channel Deutsche Welle.

Jamshid Sharmahd was sentenced to death in 2023 after being convicted by Iranʼs Islamic Revolutionary Court of his involvement in the 2008 Shiraz mosque bombing that killed 14 people.

Deutsche Welle notes that the official verdict was presented in less clear terms and used the universal term "spreading corruption." Iran also accused him of contacting "officers of the US Federal Intelligence Bureau and the US Central Intelligence Agency" and of "attempting to contact Israeli Mossad agents."

Koosha Mahshid Falahi / Mizan News Agency / AP

Tehran accused the Iranian-German citizen of being "the leader of the Tondar terrorist organization, which directed armed and terrorist activities in Iran from America." The Tondar Organization, the armed wing of the "Assembly of the Kingdom of Iran" based in California (USA), says it seeks to restore Iranʼs monarchy, which was overthrown in the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Before the abduction, which is believed to have taken place in Dubai, and subsequent detention in Iran, Jamshid Sharmahd, 69, lived in California. Germany, the European Union and other countries have called for the death sentence to be abolished.

Amnesty International called the trial "grossly unfair" and said Sharmahda was denied access to an independent lawyer and the services provided by a state-appointed lawyer "were inadequate."

The EUʼs chief diplomat Josep Borrell "strongly condemned the murder."

"The EU strongly opposes the death penalty at all times and under all circumstances. This is a violation of the right to life and the ultimate denial of human dignity," he wrote.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz also condemned Sharmahdʼs execution "in the strongest possible terms", calling it a "scandal".

"Jamshid Sharmakhd was not even given the opportunity to defend himself in court against the charges brought against him," Scholz emphasized.

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