German citizen's execution by Iran 'extrajudicial killing of hostage': NGO

The execution of German citizen Jamshid Sharmahd by Iran is an extrajudicial killing of a "hostage" who was abducted by the Iranian authorities abroad, an NGO said on Monday.

Iranian authorities on Monday executed Sharmahd, detained since 2020 on charges of "corruption on earth", the judiciary's Mizan website said.

His family have long maintained that Sharmahd, a German citizen of Iranian descent, was entirely innocent and was seized by Iranian authorities in August 2020 while travelling through the United Arab Emirates.

"The execution of Jamshid Sharmahd is a case of extrajudicial killing of a hostage aimed at covering up the recent failures of the hostage-takers of the Islamic Republic," said the director of Norway-based NGO Iran Human Rights, Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam.

"Jamshid Sharmahd was kidnapped in the United Arab Emirates and unlawfully transferred to Iran, where he was sentenced to death without a fair trial by the Revolutionary Court," said Amiry-Moghaddam, whose group closely tracks executions in Iran.

Another NGO, the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights, condemned the execution as "shocking".

"It is another sign of the weakness of the government, which does not allow justice, because Jamshid Sharmahd was denied a proper trial with an independent defence," said Wolfgang Kaleck, ECCHR's secretary general.

Kaleck added: "The unlawful abduction of Sharmahd, his subsequent torture in custody, the unfair show trial and today's execution are exemplary of the countless crimes of the Iranian regime."

According to IHR at least 627 people have been executed this year by Iran. NGOs outside Iran accuse the authorities of using capital punishment as a tool to instill fear throughout society.

Sharmahd had been convicted of playing a role in a 2008 mosque bombing in the southern city of Shiraz, in which 14 people were killed and 300 wounded, allegations strongly rejected by his family.