The Body of Jamshid Sharmad Arrives in Germany

Jamshid Sharmad's daughter, Ghazaleh Sharmad, states that her father's body, who died in the Islamic Republic's prison, has arrived in Berlin. On Thursday, February 7, she called on Richard Grenell, appointed by Donald Trump as his special envoy, to initiate an investigation into this matter on social media platform X (formerly Twitter). Ms. Sharmad also requested Mr. Grenell to hold accountable the 'terrorists' who 'kidnapped and murdered' her father. Jamshid Sharmad, a political activist, was abducted by the Islamic Republic's security forces during a business trip in Dubai amid the COVID-19 pandemic and was transferred to Iran. In March 2023, the Revolutionary Court sentenced him to 'execution,' and on November 7, news of his death was published by the Mizan news agency, affiliated with the Islamic Republic's judiciary. On November 9, the Islamic Republic's Foreign Minister stated that Mr. Sharmad's family could request an autopsy of the body and its transfer to any location they desired. Dozen Takal, a German journalist and activist, reported on Instagram on February 10 that the body of this political prisoner had been handed over to German authorities, and the prosecutor's office in Cottbus, Germany, intends to conduct an autopsy to investigate the cause of death. On November 5, Mr. Sharmad's daughter stated in an interview with AFP that her father 'may have been poisoned, injected with something, died due to mistreatment during over 1500 days in solitary confinement, may have been hanged, or may still be alive.' A few days later, the Islamic Republic's Foreign Minister denied the torture of this political prisoner, claiming that while something might have happened at the time of arrest, no torture occurred during detention. Abbas Araqchi acknowledged the ambiguity of the announcement made by Tehran's prosecutor regarding Mr. Sharmad's death in an interview with Der Spiegel magazine, adding that if necessary, the Iranian judiciary would publish more information on this matter. The German government is working to repatriate Jamshid Sharmad's body from Iran. In a statement published by Mizan news agency, it was mentioned that this political prisoner was 'convicted by a competent court' and on November 7 'met his fate,' but there was no direct reference to the execution of his sentence. A few days later, a spokesman for the Islamic Republic's judiciary announced that Jamshid Sharmad was not executed but had 'passed away' before the execution of the sentence.