Welcome
Statement by Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock on the death sentence against Jamshid Sharmahd in Iran
The death sentence against Jamshid Sharmahd is absolutely unacceptable. Not only is the death penalty cruel, inhumane and degrading, but Jamshid Sharmahd never had even the semblance of a fair trial since he had no access to freely chosen legal counsel. The parading of Mr Sharmahd was tantamount to a prejudgement. We have intervened on Mr Sharmahd’s behalf at a high level time and again since his arrest, which took place under highly questionable circumstances. These intensive efforts have been ignored by Iran, and we have been consistently denied consular access as well as access to court hearings. We call on Iran to remedy these shortcomings in the appeal proceedings, to correct the verdict accordingly and to refrain from imposing the death penalty. The imposition of the death penalty on Mr Sharmahd will give rise to a clear response.