- Rodri wins men's Ballon d'Or as Real Madrid boycott
- Curry to miss at least two NBA games with left ankle injury
- Hefty electric vehicle costs dent Ford profits
- COP16 chair hails biodiversity attaining 'equal footing' with climate crisis
- Aitana Bonmati wins second successive women's Ballon d'Or
- Ohtani named in Dodgers starting line-up for World Series game three
- Real Madrid boycott Ballon d'Or ceremony
- US finalizes curbs on investing in Chinese tech
- Harris blasts Trump after racist rally rhetoric
- Tens of thousands protest in Georgia over 'stolen' election
- Man Utd sack Ten Hag, reportedly set to appoint Amorim
- Bolivia says Morales falsely claimed assassination bid
- Portuguese coach Ruben Amorim set for Manchester United job: reports
- Retiring Popp signs off as Germany's first female football superstar
- Chopin waltz unearthed after 200 years
- England's Freeman keen to make 'life a misery' for All Blacks' Reece
- Serie A strugglers Genoa sign Mario Balotelli
- German citizen's execution by Iran 'extrajudicial killing of hostage': NGO
- Trump team on defensive over racist rhetoric
- Israel to pursue new talks on Gaza hostage deal
- El Salvador troops target gangs in large-scale operation
- North Korea sent 10,000 troops to train in Russia, US says
- Who said what on Ten Hag's sacking as Man Utd manager
- Alcaraz back in Paris with unfinished business at Bercy
- Fallout spreads from racist rhetoric at Trump rally
- Tens of thousands rally in Georgia after contested vote
- Clint Eastwood skips premiere of new film 'Juror #2'
- Georgia president hints at Russian-aided vote fraud in AFP interview
- Apple rolls out AI features across devices
- Sacked Ten Hag was a 'dead man walking' at Man Utd - Shearer
- North Korea has sent 10,000 troops to train in Russia: Pentagon
- Palmer says Chelsea's youth creates its own pressures
- Harris, Trump and two contrasting 'first families'
- Real Madrid boycott Ballon d'Or over perceived Vinicius snub: club
- Suit filed in Pennsylvania to halt Musk's $1 mn giveaways
- Mowed down by cars, European hedgehog numbers shrinking
- One in three tree species at risk of extinction: report
- Five candidates to replace Ten Hag at Man Utd
- UN chief says Sudan is enduring 'nightmare' of hunger, violence, illness
- Trump, Harris enter final week of tense US election
- Ferdinand says sacked Ten Hag like a 'boxer knocked down'
- Chad hunts attackers after 40 killed in Boko Haram raid
- Oil prices tumble, global stocks rise as Iran fears ease
- Boeing announces stock offering expected to raise up to $19 billion
- UK far-right figurehead Tommy Robinson jailed for 18 months
- X suspends new account posting on behalf of Iran leader Khamenei
- Lithuania's centre left starts coalition talks after election win
- Manchester United sack manager Ten Hag
- Michelin-starred Thai street food cook hints at retirement
- Crisis-hit VW mulls closing at least three German plants
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.
L.E.Campos--PC