Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen has repeatedly raised the case of Dutch national Abdullah al-Mansouri with Tehran, most recently speaking to the Iranian ambassador last week after rumors of his conviction, a ministry spokesman said.
“As a Dutch citizen, we think that Mr. al-Mansouri has a right to our help,” the spokesman said.
Dutch news agency ANP cited Adnan al-Mansouri, the activist’s son, as saying on Monday that his father had been sentenced to death and that he feared the execution would be carried out within 48 hours.
Adnan al-Mansouri was quoted as telling a Syrian human rights organization that his father had appeared three times before a court without a lawyer and he feared he would now be forced to record a confession before being executed.
Al-Mansouri fled Iran in 1988 after campaigning for independence for Arabs in the Al-Ahwaz region and sought asylum in the Netherlands. He was arrested in May 2006 during a visit to Syria and sent to Iran, according to rights group Amnesty International.
“Amnesty is very concerned about the report that Abdullah al-Mansouri has been sentenced to death and has asked the Iranian ambassador for clarification,” the Dutch branch of the group said in a statement on its website.
