Germany has expressed outrage over the execution of 69-year-old German-Iranian political scientist Jamshid Sharmahd in Iran. Sharmahd, a German citizen of Iranian descent and US resident, was sentenced to death in February 2023 for the capital offence of “corruption on Earth” after being accused of involvement in a 2008 mosque bombing in Shiraz.
The execution has sparked condemnation from human rights groups, with Iran Human Rights calling it an “extrajudicial killing of a hostage”. Sharmahd’s family maintains his innocence, and Germany’s foreign minister Annalena Baerbock warned of “serious consequences” for Iran’s “inhumane regime”. She criticized Tehran for using death against its own population and foreign nationals.
Sharmahd’s abduction in 2020 was seen as unlawful, and his daughter criticized the German government for not doing enough to secure his release. The Iran regime has been accused of using capital punishment as a means to instill fear in society, with at least 627 people executed in Iran this year alone according to Iran Human Rights.
Several other European nationals are currently being held in Iran, with calls for a total change in the EU’s policy towards Tehran following Sharmahd’s execution. The European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights described Sharmahd’s arrest, torture, unfair trial, and subsequent execution as part of the “countless crimes of the Iranian regime”. The case has highlighted the ongoing human rights abuses in Iran and raised concerns about the safety of foreign nationals in the country.
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