BERLIN: A senior Iranian cleric under investigation in Germany for alleged crimes against humanity left the country on a homeward-bound flight on Thursday, cutting short his stay at a Hanover clinic, a German official said.
Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi, a former chief justice, was in Germany for treatment at the clinic of Iranian-German neurosurgeon Majid Samii when activists referred him to prosecutors, citing what they called his record of passing death sentences.
The National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), an exiled opposition group, said his issuing of “thousands” of death sentences amounted to a crime against humanity and urged German prosecutors to investigate.
Prosecutors said they were investigating the referrals, including one from senior Green politician Volker Beck. Later, the NCRI reported that Iran had reserved tickets for Shahroudi and his entourage to leave the country.
A German government official told Reuters on Thursday afternoon that Shahroudi was aboard an Iran-bound plane.
While Germany, like all European Union countries, opposes the death penalty, German prosecutors do not automatically act on cases referred to them involving executions in foreign countries.
For the issuing of death sentences to amount to a crime against humanity, they would have to be part of a systematic attack on a civilian population.
An NCRI activist condemned Shahroudi’s departure. “He should have been prosecuted for thousands of executions in Iran,” said Shahin Gobadi, a member of the NCRI’s foreign affairs committee.
NCRI spokesman Javad Dabiran said the group had seen Shahroudi leave the Hanover hospital in a convoy before departing from Hamburg airport on an Iran Air flight at 1325 local time (1225 GMT).
It said it had filed a formal complaint with prosecutors, accusing Shahroudi of committing crimes against humanity and urging Berlin to prevent the cleric from leaving Germany.
An arrest warrant would have to be issued by Germany’s constitutional court.
Shahroudi was head of Iran’s judiciary for a decade and is currently the head of the Expediency Council, a body intended to resolve disputes between parliament and a hard-line watchdog body, the Guardian Council.
Reuters could not immediately reach Shahroudi for comment.
Shahroudi’s visit to a hospital in Germany prompted anger among some Iranians who believe officials in the Islamic Republic should use the same health system as ordinary Iranians.
Parviz Davoudi, an official in his office, said on Monday that “Shahroudi was against traveling to Germany, and only did so after doctors insisted there is a medical emergency.”
Iranian cleric leaves Germany under threat of prosecution over death sentences
Iranian cleric leaves Germany under threat of prosecution over death sentences
Bangladesh takes ‘balanced approach’ with Pakistan as talks of defense deal emerge
- Air force chiefs of Pakistan and Bangladesh discussed potential defense pact last week
- Dhaka says plan to procure fighter jets still in early stages, discussions ongoing with several countries
DHAKA: Bangladesh appears to be moving with caution as Dhaka and Islamabad forge closer ties and explore a potential defense deal, experts said on Friday.
Following decades of acrimonious ties, relations between Bangladesh and Pakistan have been growing since a student-led uprising ousted former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in 2024.
Talks on a potential defense deal covering the sale of Pakistan’s JF-17 fighter jets to Dhaka emerged after Bangladesh’s Air Chief Marshal Hasan Mahmood Khan visit to Rawalpindi last week, where he met with his Pakistani counterpart Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmed Baber Sidhu and Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir, Pakistan’s chief of defense forces.
Bangladesh’s military media wing, the Inter-Services Public Relations, said the procurement of fighter jets for the Bangladesh Air Force is “in the very rudimentary level,” and currently “under an evaluation process.”
ISPR Director Lt. Col. Sami Ud Dowla Chowdhury told Arab News: “The evaluation process will determine which country’s offer proves befitting for us. The air chief’s visit to Pakistan is part of the evaluation process … Earlier, he visited China, Italy (too).
“Discussions are underway with different countries. Nothing concrete has come yet.”
Talks between the high-ranking military officials are the latest development in Bangladesh-Pakistan ties, which have included the resumption of direct trade for the first time since the 1971 war and the expected launch of a regular route from Dhaka to Karachi at the end of this month, following over a decade of suspension.
Though efforts to expand relations can be seen from both sides, the current interim government of Bangladesh led by economist and Nobel Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus has been “showing some kind of pragmatism,” said Prof. Delwar Hossain of Dhaka University’s international relations department.
“Bangladesh is stepping very cautiously in comparison with the advancement from the Pakistan side. Bangladesh is trying to make a balanced approach,” he told Arab News.
“The present government is always saying that the development of a relationship with Pakistan doesn’t necessarily mean that Bangladesh is moving towards a particular camp. Rather, Bangladesh is interested in having a balanced relationship with all the great powers.”
Trade and economy are “naturally” more preferable areas of cooperation for Dhaka, Hossain said, adding that “we need more time to determine” how far military cooperation will be expanded.
Ishfaq Ilahi Choudhury, a defense expert and retired air officer of the Bangladesh Air Force, said that Bangladesh is “very much in need of advanced aircraft” because its military has not procured new fighter jets in at least two decades.
“Air frigate fighters are badly needed for the Bangladesh Air Force. We had some F-7 produced by China, but they stopped producing these fighters nowadays. Here, Pakistan can be a source for our fighter jets, but it involves … geopolitics,” he told Arab News, alluding to how Dhaka’s defense ties with Pakistan may be perceived by its archrival neighbor India.
Pakistan’s JF-17 fighter jets, a multi-role combat aircraft jointly developed with China, have drawn international interest following their success last May, when Pakistani and Indian forces engaged in their worst fighting since 1999.
Islamabad said it shot down several Indian fighter jets during the aerial combat, a claim Indian officials later acknowledged after initially denying any losses, but without specifying the number of jets downed.
“Our friendship with Pakistan shouldn’t (come) at the cost of our friendship with India,” Choudhury said.
“With this (potential) defense purchase deal with Pakistan, we have to remain very cautious so that it proves sustainable in the long term.”
