Four Months Without News of Dual-Citizen Detainee in Iran; Jamshid Sharmahd’s Family: Don’t Allow Regime Abductions of Opponents to Continue

The daughter of an imprisoned Iranian-German dual-citizen says that after at least four months since her father was “abducted” outside Iran’s borders and transferred into the country, there is still no information about his place of detention, whereabouts, or the detaining authority, and Islamic Republic judicial officials have not allowed his lawyer access to him or his case file.

Ghazaleh Sharmahd, daughter of Jamshid Sharmahd, told Voice of America that Islamic Republic officials stated in a contact with the German embassy in Tehran that visits are currently not permitted; however, if Mr. Sharmahd appoints a lawyer, the lawyer would be able to visit him and access his case file. Nevertheless, the family’s appointed lawyer has been unable to meet with this dual-citizen detainee despite approaching Tehran’s prosecutor’s office and Evin Prison.

Ms. Sharmahd told Voice of America: “Every time we sent a lawyer, they either said there was no case file or that Mr. Jamshid Sharmahd is not here. The last time the lawyer went, they told him they don’t accept lawyers not on the approved list of the judiciary. This is while they told the German embassy that any lawyer you appoint can definitely visit.”

Ghazaleh Sharmahd says that by denying consular access from the German embassy to Mr. Sharmahd, Islamic Republic officials have indicated that dual citizenship is not acceptable to them.

Regarding her father’s health condition, Ms. Sharmahd told Voice of America: “Our father has diabetes and has suffered from Parkinson’s disease for more than ten years. This disease paralyzes the body, and if his medications are delayed, he will experience terrible pain and respiratory problems and cannot move his body.”

Ghazaleh Sharmahd, noting that during this period family members have only been able to have three brief phone contacts with Mr. Sharmahd, told Voice of America: “I heard his voice and now at least we know he is alive. He can’t speak freely; it’s clear that when he speaks, there are people next to him telling him what he can say. He was happy to speak with his children and his wife after several months, but he couldn’t say where he is. He only said he is in his hometown and not to worry.”

Ms. Sharmahd also expressed her family’s concerns: “People who aren’t even political are detained by the Islamic Republic and convicted on false charges to execution or long prison sentences, let alone my father who has engaged in political activity. My father’s life is in danger and we know that until he has access to a lawyer, it’s unknown what confessions they are forcing from him. We know in Iran they obtain forced confessions through torture and broadcast them on television, which is why we are concerned about him. We don’t know where he is and what condition he’s in.”

Ghazaleh Sharmahd, who considers her father’s detention an abduction, told Voice of America: “There are people who were detained when they went to Iran; but our father was abducted and taken to Iran. How can they do this? How do other countries allow this to happen? You can’t simply take someone across three countries and bring him to Iran. We want people’s voices to be heard and to pay attention to the fact that if this practice continues, the Islamic Republic can go beyond its borders and kidnap anyone they want and dislike and throw them in Iranian prisons.”

Shayan Sharmahd, another son of this dual-citizen detainee, told Voice of America: “If our voice reaches our father, we want to say that we are still thinking of you and still fighting for you. Don’t worry. We will free you and bring you back to your family.”

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

Currently, besides Jamshid Sharmahd, several American and non-American citizens—including Siamak and Baquer Namazi, Ares Amiri, Kamran Ghaderi, Massoud Mosaheb, and Anoosheh Ashoori—are imprisoned in Iran.