German politician sponsors Iranian labor activist sentenced to death

Robin Korte, a member of North Rhine-Westphalia regional parliament in Germany, has undertaken political sponsorship of Iranian labor activist Sharifeh Mohammadi, who has been sentenced to death.

"The regime in Iran is using the utmost brutal means to fight its opponents. Human rights violations occur day-to-day. This was also the case with Sharifeh Mohammadi,” Korte said in a statement.

Korbe added that “Almost two years after the murder of Jina Mahsa Amini, we Europeans must not tire of taking a principled and public stand against the crimes in Iran. We must make it clear: We are watching and protesting."

The death sentence for Mohammadi, a labor activist imprisoned in Iran on trumped-up charges of armed rebellion, has sparked widespread condemnation from activists. They maintain that the sentence is based on the pretext of her membership in an independent, public, and legal labor organization from a decade ago, highlighting the perceived unfairness of the verdict.

Mohammadi, arrested in December 2023, represents one of the latest victims in a wave of executions intended to suppress dissent. According to the United Nations, 834 Iranians were executed last year, marking a record high and a 50 percent increase from the previous year. Among those executed, at least 22 were women, positioning Iran as the world's leading executioner of women. The 2023 figures, the highest since 2014, were reported by Iran Human Rights.

Since the Woman Life Freedom movement in 2022, several members of the German parliament have been politically sponsoring Iranian political prisoners, many of whom face imminent execution on spurious charges.

During the nationwide protests in Iran, security forces conducted a severe crackdown. This response resulted in the deaths of at least 550 protesters and was condemned as a crime against humanity by a UN fact-finding mission.