Following European Parliament’s resolutions on human rights violations in Iran and the mention of Zahra Bahrami’s case in the approved document, Iranian foreign ministry slammed foreign interference in its judiciary cases saying Bahrami is accused of "possession of over a kilo of drugs."
Ramin Mehmanparast, spokesman for Iran’s foreign ministry told IRNA that recently Western countries have put human rights issues in a very "targeted and politically aimed" manner on their agenda and even cases that are in no way political and completely fall in the framework of criminal law such as the case of Bahrami, who is held for drug-related charges, are being used to create political pressure for our people and our system."
"Our response to them is clear," Mehmanparast added; "They have no authority to interfere in our internal affairs and Iranian judiciary is independent in its course of prosecution."
Zahra Bahrami, an Iranian-Dutch citizen was arrested in December 2009 in the course of protests against the controversial victory of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the presidential elections.
She is charged with enmity against God, acting against national security and spreading propaganda against the regime. She is also facing a charge of drug possession for which she was sentenced to death last month.
Her lawyer, Jinoos Sharif Razi reported that drug charges are usually processed more quickly by the Iranian juduciary. She added that her client denies all the charges brought against her.
Dutch foreign ministry has instructed the Dutch embassy to monitor Bahrami’s case and make every effort to assure she is availed of a fair trial.
Bahrami’s death sentence has not been confirmed yet and has been sent to the Prosecutor General’s office for review.
On Thursday EU parlaiment adopted a series of resolutions in protest to human right violations in Iran with specific reference to the case of jailed lawyers, sepcifcally Nasrin Sotoudeh. The parliament urged its member to make every effort to stop "a systematic assault on the human rights lawyers and activists in Iran."
The EU parliament also called for a review of Zahra Bahrami’s case urging Iranian authorties to "grant her a fair trial and access to Dutch authorities."
