Latest news with #JamshidSharmahd
Yahoo
11-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Memorial ceremony in Berlin for German-Iranian as questions remain
Almost six months after the death of German-Iranian dual national Jamshid Sharmahd in Iranian custody, relatives and friends held a memorial ceremony in the German capital on Friday. The service at a funeral parlour in the Neukölln district of Berlin was attended by his daughter and son, who live in the United States. Among the guests were German Agriculture Minister Cem Özdemir, and Berlin's deputy mayor Franziska Giffey. In the evening, an Iranian opposition group is planning a solidarity rally for all political prisoners in Iran at the Brandenburg Gate. Sharmahd, a computer expert and entrepreneur, was born in Tehran in 1955, grew up in the northern German city of Hanover and moved to California in 2003, where he was active in an Iranian opposition group in exile. In the summer of 2020, he was abducted under mysterious circumstances while travelling from Dubai to Iran. Iran's judiciary announced at the end of October that Sharmahd would be executed after being sentenced to death in early 2023. He was convicted during a controversial trial following allegations of terrorism, which relatives and human rights activists rejected as baseless. Iran's judiciary later declared that Sharmahd had not been executed but had in fact died in custody. Many questions remain about his death. Last year, his daughter accused the US and German governments of having done nothing to secure her father's release - accusations she repeated at the memorial service. The human rights organization Amnesty International called for an "independent, impartial and effective" investigation into the causes and circumstances of Jamshid Sharmahd's death, which remain unclear following an autopsy.
Yahoo
05-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Report: Iran returns body of German-Iranian Jamshid Sharmahd
Iran transferred the body of Iranian-German dual national Jamshid Sharmahd back to Germany on Wednesday after he died in custody in Iran, Iranian state broadcaster SNN reported. The measure was taken as part of "legal and diplomatic proceedings" and at the request of Sharmahd's family, SNN reported, citing the Iranian judiciary. It was initially unclear whether Sharmahd's body had already been flown out of the country, or just handed over to the German diplomatic mission in Tehran. Iran's judiciary announced Sharmahd's execution at the end of October. He had been sentenced to death in early 2023 in a controversial trial following allegations of terrorism, which relatives and human rights activists categorically rejected as baseless. Iran's judiciary later declared that Sharmahd had not been executed but had died in custody. Germany's Foreign Office said that the German government was working intensively at a high level for the repatriation of Sharmahd's body, and remains in close contact with the family members. In response to Sharmahd's death, the German government summoned the German ambassador to Iran back to Berlin for consultations and closed all three Iranian consulates in Germany. German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock justified the move as a response to the "inhumane actions" of the Iranian regime.
