Ghazaleh Sharmehdi Files Complaint Against 8 Senior Officials of the Islamic Republic

Ghazaleh Sharmehdi, daughter of Jamshid Sharmehdi, who has been sentenced to death by the Islamic Republic in Iran, filed a complaint against 8 senior judicial and intelligence officials of the Islamic Republic of Iran at the Federal Court of Germany, seeking the formation of a criminal case against them. On Tuesday, June 21, she accused eight high-ranking members of the judiciary and intelligence apparatus of the Islamic Republic of Iran of crimes against humanity. The family of Jamshid Sharmehdi, a dual Iranian-German citizen, claims that Iranian officials kidnapped him in Dubai three years ago. Iranian authorities have accused Sharmehdi of planning a deadly attack on a mosque in 2008, which resulted in 15 deaths and over 200 injuries. Jamshid Sharmehdi was sentenced to death earlier this year. He holds dual German citizenship and permanent residency in the United States. German and European officials condemned this ruling, which was issued amid an increase in executions in Iran. Germany follows the 'principle of universal jurisdiction,' which allows officials to investigate serious crimes committed elsewhere in the world. The European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights based in Berlin, which supports Ghazaleh Sharmehdi's complaint, announced on Wednesday that a case has been opened targeting a judge named Abdolghasem Salavati and former Minister of Intelligence Mahmoud Alavi, among others. Ghazaleh Sharmehdi stated on Wednesday: 'The kidnapping in Dubai, illegal detention, torture during detention, and the imminent execution of my father as a result of a show trial are examples of the unspoken crimes of the Iranian regime.' Wolfgang Kaleck, Secretary General of the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights, called the Islamic Republic responsible for 'systematic torture, sexual violence, executions, and the disappearance of tens of thousands.' He added: 'The goal is to bring high-ranking officials of the government, judiciary, and security apparatus of the Iranian regime to trial for these crimes, either through the declaration of criminal offenses in Germany in the Sharmehdi case or through legal actions in another country or at the International Court.' Germany and the Islamic Republic expelled each other's diplomats earlier this year in connection with the Sharmehdi case. Masoud Setayesh, spokesman for the Islamic Republic's judiciary, announced on Wednesday, April 25, in a press conference the confirmation of Jamshid Sharmehdi's death sentence by the Supreme Court of the Islamic Republic. After this news was announced, Ghazaleh Sharmehdi told Voice of America that contact with her father is not possible and 'we must follow the news for the latest developments.'