Lawyer In Shock Over Dutch-Iranian Client’s Execution: “Her Investigation Was Not Yet Complete”

Just a few days ago, in an interview with the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, Zahra Bahrami’s daughter denied all drug-related charges leveled against her mother.  However, a few hours ago, Fars News Agency reported of the execution of the Dutch-Iranian prisoner.  The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran was able to contact Bahrami’s lawyer, Jinoos Sharif Razi in Tehran a few minutes ago;  Sharif Razi was not aware of the execution.  “I am shocked.  I was absolutely not informed about this.  They should have informed her lawyer of the execution, but I had no idea.  I don’t know what to say.  Just that I am shocked,” she said.

An informed source told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran that during Zahra Bahrami’s detention, her interrogation team was the Iranian Intelligence Ministry’s Anti-Espionage Team.  Therefore the possibility that her initial charges were drug-related is nil.  According to the said source, during her first few weeks of detention in prison, Zahra Bahrami was physically and psychologically tortured to provide televised confessions according to a pre-written scenario.

Related link: Daughter of Iranian-Dutch Prisoner on Death Row Pleads For Help

Jinoos Sharif told the Campaign that the Iranian Judiciary has not yet reviewed the security charges waged against her client.  “I am bewildered as to how my client’s death sentence was issued while her security charges had not yet been reviewed.”  Considering Zahra Bahrami’s initial charges immediately after her arrest were about security issues and her presence during the post-election protests and interviewing with foreign media, Bahrami’s daughter said that the Iranian authorities now wish to shift the public opinion from the subject of elections.  “My mother is a citizen of the Netherlands. They probably leveled this accusation against her in order to cut the Dutch government’s reach [into the case]. They have previously waged such unfounded charges against others, too. A while ago, they claimed that they had found drugs in the office of a prominent lawyer, but because he was a distinguished man, they could not play on this story too much. But my mother is a lonely woman without anyone, so they think they can do this to her. They know she has no one to help her,” said Banafsheh Nayebpour, Zahra Bahrami’s daughter.

Fars News Agency referred to Zahra Bahrami as “a drug trafficker,” and stated that “she was a member of an international band of drug traffickers who through help from her Dutch contact, smuggled cocaine from the Netherlands to Iran, and through her cooperation with this band, twice cocaine had been imported into the country and distributed.”  According to Fars News Agency, “during the search from the said individual’s home, who had been arrested earlier on security charges, 450 grams of cocaine and 420 grams of opium were also discovered and during the following investigations, it was determined that she had also sold 150 grams of cocaine.”

“My mother always says that the confessions extracted from her and her participation in a television interview were all done under duress, and that she was forced to do it, as they had promised to help her. Unfortunately, she was not helped at all,” Zahra Bahrami’s daughter told the Campaign last week.  Asked whether her mother transported drugs during her visits to Iran, her daughter said: “As her daughter, I do not accept any of these accusations. My mother said in court that because she was under pressure during the interrogations, she was made to say those things. My mother is not interested in such things at all. She doesn’t even smoke cigarettes, let alone possessing drugs. How could someone who participates in [post-] election gatherings and endangers her life, engage in such actions against her country?”
Fars News Agency also reported “Subsequently, following completion of investigations and issuance of the indictment, Zahra Bahrami’s case file was sent to the Tehran Revolutionary Courts and the trial session was held in the presence of the Prosecutor’s Representative, and the convict’s lawyer, and after review, the said individual was sentenced to death and confiscation of her assets on charges of possession of 450 grams of cocaine, and participation in the sale of 150 grams of cocaine; and to $1,400 in fines and 70 lashes on the charge of possessing 420 grams of opium.  The sentence was also confirmed by the Prosecutor General.”