Four months of ignorance about the status of a dual-national prisoner in Iran; Jamshid Sharmehed's family: Don't let the kidnapping of regime opponents continue

The daughter of a dual Iranian-German citizen imprisoned in Iran says that at least four months after her father was "kidnapped" outside Iran and transferred to that country, there is still no information about his place of arrest, where he is being held, or the institution that is detaining him, and that the Islamic Republic's judicial authorities have not allowed his lawyer to visit him or access his case file.

Ghazala Sharmehed, Jamshid Sharmehed's daughter, told VOA that the authorities of the Islamic Republic, in a contact with which the German Embassy in Tehran had had contact, have announced that visits are not currently allowed; but if Mr. Sharmehed hires a lawyer, the lawyer can meet with him and have access to the case file. However, despite visiting the Tehran Prosecutor's Office and Evin Prison, the family's appointed lawyer has not yet been able to meet with this dual-citizen prisoner.

Ms. Sharmehed told VOA: "Every time we sent a lawyer, they either said there was no case or [they said] Mr. Jamshid Sharmehed was not here. The last time the lawyer went to see him, they told him that they would not accept a lawyer who was not on the list of lawyers approved by the judiciary. This is despite the fact that they had told the German embassy that any lawyer they hired would be able to meet with him."

Ghazala Sharmehed says that the authorities of the Islamic Republic of Iran have announced that they do not accept dual citizenship by denying consular access to Mr. Sharmehed from the German Embassy.

Regarding her father's health, Ms. Sharmehed told VOA: "Our father has diabetes and has been suffering from Parkinson's disease for more than ten years. This disease paralyzes the body, and if his medication is delayed, he will have terrible pain and difficulty breathing, and he will not be able to move his body."

Ghazala Sharmehed also pointed out that during this time, family members have only been able to make phone calls to Mr. Sharmehed three times, and for short periods of time, and told VOA: "I heard his voice, and now at least we know he is alive. He cannot speak easily. It is clear that when he speaks, people are next to him and are telling him what he can say. He was happy that after a few months he would talk to his children and wife, but he could not say where he was. He just said he was in his hometown and not to worry."

Regarding the family's concerns, Ms. Sharmehed also said: "People who are not even political are arrested by the Islamic Republic and sentenced to death or long prison terms on false charges, let alone my father, who was politically active. My father's life is in danger, and we know that until he gets a lawyer, it is not known what confessions they will force him to make. We know that in Iran, forced confessions are obtained through torture and broadcast on television, which is why we are worried about him. We do not know where he is and what his condition is."

Ghazala Sharmehed, who considers her father's arrest to be kidnapping, told VOA: "There are people who were arrested when they went to Iran; but they kidnapped our father and took him to Iran. How can they do this? How do other countries let this happen? It's not that easy to push a person through three countries and take him to Iran. We want the people's voices to be louder and to pay attention to the fact that if this trend continues, the Islamic Republic can go beyond its borders and kidnap anyone they want and don't like and put them in prison in Iran."

Shayan Sharmehed, another son of the dual-citizen prisoner, also told VOA: "If our voice reaches your father, we want to say that we are still thinking about you and still fighting for you. Don't worry. We will release you and return you to your family."

Previously, the Voice of America reported, citing the Associated Press, that Mr. Sharmehed, a German citizen who had lived in the United States, was a member of an Iranian opposition group in exile based in California, and that Iranian authorities claimed to have arrested him, without providing any details.

In addition to Jamshid Sharmehed, several American and non-American citizens – including Siamak and Bagher Namazi, Aras Amiri, Kamran Ghaderi, Masoud Mosaheb, and Anousheh Ashouri – are currently imprisoned in Iran.