German-Iranian activist sentenced to 10 years in Iranian jail, daughter says

BERLIN — A German-Iranian woman held in Iran has been given a decade-long jail term by an Iran court for participating in an outlawed group, her daughter said Wednesday.

Nahid Taghavi, 66, was given “10 years for membership in an illegal group” and “eight months for propaganda against the regime,” said her daughter, Mariam Claren.

Taghavi was arrested at her Tehran apartment on October 16 after years of fighting for human rights in Iran, in particular for women’s rights and freedom of expression, according to the rights group IGFM.

According to Claren, Taghavi has been held in Tehran’s notorious Evin prison, where she contracted Covid-19 last month.

Claren has repeatedly flagged up warnings about her mother’s health, saying that she suffers from pre-existing conditions including high blood pressure and diabetes.

Germany’s Foreign Ministry said in October that it was aware of the arrest of a German-Iranian woman in Iran, but did not name the detained citizen.

Nahid Taghavi (Twitter)

Frank Schwabe, who is the spokesman on human rights issues for the Social Democrats, condemned the verdict.

“The charges are baseless and the verdict a farce,” he wrote on Twitter.