Iran yesterday hanged an Iranian-Dutch woman for drug smuggling after initially arresting her for anti-government protests, the Tehran prosecutor’s office said.
Zahra Bahrami’s execution takes the total number of people hanged in Iran so far this year to 66 — on average more than two a day — according to an Agence-France Presse tally based on media reports.
The Netherlands summoned Iran’s ambassador in the wake of the hanging, the Dutch foreign ministry said.
“A drug trafficker named Zahra Bahrami, daughter of Ali, was hanged early on Saturday morning after she was convicted of selling and possessing drugs,” the Tehran prosecutor’s office said.
Bahrami, a 46-year-old Iranian-born naturalized Dutch citizen, was reportedly arrested in December 2009 after joining a protest against the government while visiting relatives in Iran.
The prosecutor’s office confirmed yesterday that she had been arrested for “security crimes.” However, elaborating on the drug smuggling charge, the office said Bahrami had used her Dutch connections to smuggle narcotics into Iran.
“The convict, a member of an international drug gang, smuggled cocaine to Iran using her Dutch connections and had twice shipped and distributed cocaine inside the country,” it said.
During a search of her house, authorities found 450g of cocaine and 420g of opium, the prosecutor’s office said, adding that investigations revealed she had sold 150g of cocaine in Iran.
The Netherlands had been seeking details about Bahrami’s case and had accused the Iranian authorities of refusing the Dutch embassy access to the prisoner because they did not recognize her dual nationality.
Dutch foreign ministry spokesman Bengt van Loosdrecht said in The Hague that the ministry had not yet received confirmation of the execution.
“The minister has summoned Iran’s ambassador in order to elucidate this piece of information,” he said.
On Jan. 5, Dutch Foreign Minister Uri Rosenthal expressed “extreme concern” about Bahrami and said he had “asked the Iranian authorities to provide immediate clarification” about her case.
Dutch broadcaster Radio Netherlands Worldwide, quoting Bahrami’s daughter Banafsheh Najebpour, had reported earlier this month that Bahrami was awaiting trial in a second capital case in which she was accused of being in an armed opposition group.
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