German-based aid worker sentenced to 10 years in Iran
Serkan Eren, detained in Iran while delivering humanitarian aid, has been sentenced to 10 years in prison. STELP, the charity he founded, says the ruling was based on his "contact with a country Iran regards as hostile."
RastinewsSerkan Eren, founder and director of the Stuttgart-based aid organization STELP, has been sentenced to 10 years in prison in Iran, the group announced.
STELP said on its website that it learned of the verdict from Eren's lawyer in Iran.
According to the statement, an Iranian court handed down the sentence after claiming that the 42-year-old had "made contact with a country regarded by Iran as hostile."
According to a report carried by DW, Eren, a Turkish citizen born and raised in Germany, has received no official comment from Iranian authorities on the sentence. Turkish authorities have also yet to respond.
The statement recalled that Eren was detained after crossing from Turkey into Iran last June as part of humanitarian relief work, and voiced criticism of the ruling.
"We are deeply saddened by this verdict. We do not believe the sentence is justified in any way," STELP said.
Eren has spent years running aid operations in crisis zones around the world.
The organization also led donation campaigns in Germany for the region hit by the 2023 earthquakes centered on Kahramanmaraş.