Netherlands: Dutch-Iranian woman executed in Iran · Global Voices
Percy Balemans

Zahra Bahrami
According to Dutch and international news media, Dutch-Iranian Zahra Bahrami has been executed in Iran after having been found guilty of drug-related crimes and sentenced to death on 2 January. She was arrested on 27 December 2009 when she reportedly attended an anti-government demonstration during a visit to Tehran.
The Campaign to Free Political Prisoners in Iran wrote a letter to the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs [en] in September 2010 urging them to make demands to Iran for her release. Amnesty International's Dutch section also took up Bahrami's cause [nl] under strong suspicion that Bahrami never received a fair trial. This morning, they reported the news of her execution on Twitter:
Nederlands-Iraanse Zahra Bahrami in Iran geëxecuteerd door ophanging (via @nrc) #doodstraf #bahrami nrc.nl/nieuws/2011/01…
Dutch Twitter users reacted to the news.
@voetvaeg writes [nl]:
SCHOKKEND: ondertussen heeft Iran de Nederlandse Zahra #Bahrami geëxecuteerd door ophanging! http://bit.ly/hKpnc5
Some people, like @VrolijkRechts, wanted to do more than just tweet [nl] about it:
Beste mensen. Hoe laat zijn jullie bij de Iraanse ambassade om jullie te laten horen? Of blijven wij boos twitteren? #Zahra #Bahrami
Others, such as @bobbraak, called on the Dutch government to take action [nl]:
vanmiddag om 17:00 uur gaat er vlucht naar tehran. Uri, die kan de iraanse ambassadeur mooi nog halen! #bahrami
@Leon_Bosma puts things into perspective [nl]:
Veel verontwaardiging over #Bahrami. Zonder af te willen doen, wat maakt één staatsmoord zo belangrijk versus bv. de ruim 30 in #Egypte?
@BartNijman is skeptical [nl] about the case:
Als op drugsdelicten in Iran de doodstraf staat, waarom zou voor een Iraans-Nederlandse dan wat anders moeten gelden? #bahrami #iran
The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran posted a reaction from Bahrami's lawyer [en]:
I am shocked. I was absolutely not informed about this. They should have informed her lawyer of the execution, but I had no idea. I don’t know what to say. Just that I am shocked.
On Saturday afternoon, Dutch newspaper de Volkskrant reported [nl] that the Iranian ambassador in the Netherlands has confirmed that Bahrami has indeed been executed, upon which the Netherlands immediately froze all ties with Iran. The Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs, Uri Rosenthal, calls the case “a scandal, committed by a barbarian regime”.
Twitter hashtag: #bahrami