CNN
Iran hangs Dutch-Iranian woman for drug smuggling, report says
By the CNN Wire Staff
Tehran, Iran (CNN) -- Iran hanged a Dutch-Iranian woman it said was a drug smuggler, the semi-official Fars news agency reported, although the Dutch government expressed "great concern" about her case three weeks ago.
Fars said Zahra Bahrami smuggled cocaine into Iran with the help of a Dutch partner. She was executed Saturday, the report said.
But the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran suggested the drug charges were only a pretext to execute her.
The campaign said she was originally charged with security offenses in the wake of widespread protests against the government over a controversial presidential election in June 2009.
Her lawyer was "shocked" to find she had been hanged, the group said.
"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," Jinoos Sharif Razi told the group.
The campaign said it learned of the hanging from Bahrami's daughter.
Bahrami was accused of bringing cocaine into the country twice and selling it. Cocaine and opium were found during a search of her house, Fars reported.
Her sentence also included 70 lashes and a $1,400 fine, Fars reported.
Read moreReuters
Iran hangs Iranian-Dutch woman for drug smuggling
Reuters) - An Iranian-Dutch woman, arrested after taking part in anti-government protests in Iran in 2009, has been hanged for drug smuggling, the semi-official Mehr news agency said on Saturday.
"A woman smuggler named Zahra Bahrami, daughter of Ali, has been hanged today for the possession and selling of narcotics," Mehr reported, quoting the court.
The 45-year-old woman's daughter was quoted by the New York-based rights group International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran as saying the drug charges were fabricated.
Mehr reported that she had been found guilty of smuggling cocaine into Iran from the Netherlands and was found with 450 grams of the drug in her possession. Iran does not recognise dual citizenship.
Bahrami, who according to the International Campaign for Human Rights, lived in London but visited her family in Iran, took part in opposition demonstrations marking the Shi'ite Muslim festival of Ashura in December 2009.
That was six months after the disputed re-election of hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad which was followed by the biggest street protests since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
The government stamped out the protests which it says were the work of foreign-backed seditionists. Thousands of people were detained after the election. Most of them have since been freed, but more than 80 people have been jailed for up to 15 years and at least five have been sentenced to death.
As in the case of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, an Iranian woman whose sentence to death by stoning was suspended after an international outcry, Iranian authorities accused foreign governments of trying to interfere in judicial proceedings.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said last week: "It is expected from the Western countries to appreciate Iran's efforts to combat drug trafficking and even cooperate accordingly. Unfortunately, however, we are witnessing their support for Zahra Bahrami and they have even called for her release."
BBC
Dutch freeze contacts with Iran over hanging
The Dutch government has frozen all contacts with Iran in protest over the hanging of a Dutch-Iranian woman.
The Dutch foreign ministry said it was "shocked, shattered by this act by a barbaric regime".
Sahra Bahrami, aged 46, was hanged for drug smuggling early on Saturday, Iranian officials said.
Her family accuses Tehran of fabricating the case against her after she was detained for taking part in anti-government protests in 2009.
AP
Dutch freeze contacts with Iran after hanging
Dutch freeze contacts with Iran after hanging
(AP) – 1 day ago
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The Dutch government froze official contacts with Iran on Saturday to protest the hanging of a Dutch-Iranian woman, the Foreign Ministry said.
Iranian Ambassador Gharib Abadi was informed of the sanctions after he confirmed reports that Zahra Bahrami, 45, was executed in Tehran Saturday.
His embassy later said the hanging was "an internal issue" that should have no impact on diplomatic relations.
Read MoreDutch News
The Netherlands freezes contacts with Iran after execution
The Netherlands has formally frozen all contacts with Iran following the execution of a Dutch Iranian woman on drugs charges.
In a statement, the ministry said the move is to show the Netherlands disgust at the hanging of ahra Bahrami on drugs charges. Other Iranian Dutch nationals are being advised not to travel to Iran.
‘The Netherlands is very shocked by this execution, this scandalous deed,’ foreign minister Uri Rosenthal said. ‘We had done all we could to prevent this barbarous act.’
On Friday, Iran’s ambassador to the Netherlands had told Rosenthal that not all avenues had been closed off, the minister said. ‘I really regret that Iran did not keep its word and we have to find out via the media.’
European level
Any meetings or contacts with Iranian diplomats and other officials must now have prior written approval.
As well as freezing contact, the Netherlands will press for action against Iran at a European level, the minister said.
Sahra Bahrami, 46, was hanged for drug smuggling early on Saturday. She was arrested at the end of 2009 while on a family visit for taking part in anti-government protests.
Embassy
The foreign minister has told other Dutch Iranians to avoid the country, warning them that they will have no access to consular help if they get into trouble.
Iran refused to recognise Bahrami’s Dutch nationality, making it difficult for the Dutch authorities to give legal assistance.
MPs from the two government parties CDA and VVD said Rosenthal was right not to recall the Dutch ambassador to Iran in protest at the killing.
‘There are other Dutch nationals in Iran and it is important to support her family,’ VVD foreign affairs spokesman Atzo Nicolai said told the Telegraaf.
Radio Netherlands
Iranian-Dutch woman Zahra Bahrami has been hanged for selling and possessing drugs, Iran's ambassador to the Netherlands has confirmed. Her lawyer says she was executed before the trial's file on her political activities was completed.
Ms Bahrami, a 46-year-old Iranian-born naturalised Dutch citizen, was reportedly arrested in December 2009 after joining a protest against the government while visiting relatives in the Islamic republic. The prosecutor's office confirmed on Saturday that she had been arrested for "security crimes."
Ms Bahrami's lawyer, Jinoos Sharif Razi, says the file on her political activities had not even been completed. He is therefore shocked that the execution has been carried out. According to Amnesty International, Iran had promised to postpone the execution until the file had been completed as part of her trial.
Foreign Minister Uri Rosenthal has condemned the hanging as "an outrage committed by a barbarian regime". The foreign minister has summoned the Iranian ambassador to demand an explanation. The Hague has suspended all official contacts with Iran.
Mr Rosenthal will raise the issue on Monday at the council of EU foreign ministers to see if the bloc is willing to take measures against Iran.
International Camp.
Distraught, Bahrami’s Daughter Demands: “How is it possible that she was executed?!”
A shocked and emotional Banafsheh Nayebpour, daughter of Iranian-Dutch citizen, Zahra Bahrami, who, according to a Fars News Agency report, was executed in the early morning hours of Saturday, 29 January 2010, talked to the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran today. She said people have been calling her for the past hour to verify the news of her mother’s death. “How is such a thing possible? We had requested clemency, and we have not yet received a reply. They have not reviewed my mother’s other case, either. How is it possible that she was executed?” she said in disbelief.
Zahra Bahrami’s daughter was informed of her mother’s execution through phone calls from her friends and relatives on Saturday at around 4:00 p.m. “I called her lawyer. She had not been informed, either. I don’t know where to go now, of whom to seek information. Nobody is answering me now, because it’s past business hours. This means that my mother died this morning, when I was sleeping,” she said.
“Shouldn’t they have informed her family and lawyer before executing her? We should have gone to see her before her execution. Is it so easy–that my mother is no longer in this world? Did I not have any right to see her before her execution?” said a distraught Banafesheh Nayebpour.
Read MoreNCRI
Iran: Zahra Bahrami hanged by the religious misogynist regime .
Maryam Rajavi: Do not fuel mullahs’ machine of execution and suppression by continuing economic deals and diplomatic ties
NCRI - In yet another criminal act, the inhuman and misogynist regime of mullahs executed Saturday, January 29, Zahra Bahrami, 46, mother of two children, who was arrested in January 2009 following Ashura uprising. She was the ninetieth prisoner executed by the clerical regime since the beginning of 2011.
Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the Iranian Resistance, described the regime’s goal of this savage execution as creating fear and terror among the nation, especially the enraged women who seek the overthrow of the religious fascism ruling Iran. She urged the international community to condemn the execution of Zahra Bahrami and the growing trend of executions in Iran and to impose comprehensive sanctions on this regime which is the disgrace of modern world for systematic and continuous violation of human rights.
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