Amnesty International: Jamshid Sharmehed, a dual-national political prisoner, faces the risk of "execution"

Amnesty International warned on Thursday, April 16, that Jamshid Sharmehed, a 66-year-old Iranian-German prisoner, is facing the risk of execution and, in a letter addressed to the head of Iran's judiciary, called for the release of this political prisoner.

According to this organization, more than eight months have passed since the "arbitrary" arrest of Jamshid Sharmehed, the leader of the Thunder group, by the security agents of the Islamic Republic, and throughout this time, he has been deprived of access to an independent lawyer and a fair trial.

The news of Mr. Sharmehed's kidnapping in Dubai and his transfer to Tehran by Iranian government agents was published on August 2, 2020. The Islamic Republic has accused Mr. Sharmehed of participating in a bombing operation in a Hussainiyeh in Shiraz.

Immediately after announcing Mr. Sharmehed's arrest, the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence broadcast and distributed his forced "confessions" in domestic media, including Iranian state television.

Amnesty International has also expressed concern about the exact location of Jamshid Sharmehed's detention in prison and his family's lack of information about his condition.

According to this human rights organization, Mr. Sharmehed suffers from underlying diseases such as diabetes and heart disease, as well as Parkinson's disease, and requires daily medication.

This is despite the fact that there is no information about this prisoner's access to medicine and medical care, and his family is extremely concerned about his physical condition, especially during the coronavirus crisis.

Ghazala Sharmehed, Jamshid Sharmehed's daughter, told Radio Farda on April 4 that her father had reported in his last call that he had lost 20 kilograms of weight while in detention.

Following the "arbitrary" arrest of a number of Iranian-German citizens by the Iranian government, the German Foreign Ministry issued a statement on December 20, 2018, urging people with dual citizenship to refrain from non-essential travel to Iran.

The authorities of the Islamic Republic have repeatedly arrested dual Iranian citizens as well as foreign citizens on charges of "acting against national security" and "espionage," and in some cases have used them as leverage in negotiations with Western countries.

Source: Radio Farda