Kurt_eh
07-14-2004, 11:33 PM
Canada recalls ambassador from Iran
Last Updated Wed, 14 Jul 2004 13:18:51 EDT
OTTAWA - Canada is recalling its ambassador from Iran. The move is a protest because Iran won't allow a Canadian observer at a trial of the person accused of killing Zahra Kazemi, a photojournalist from Montreal.
Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham called Iran's decision "unacceptable behaviour." Graham says he will take the matter to the International Court of Justice.
INDEPTH: Zahra Kazemi (http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/kazemi/)
"It's a complete rejection of the rule of law," Graham said, expressing his "extreme outrage" over the decision.
"Under all human rights codes, under all international law standards, this should be a public trial with the right...of the family to be present to assure that justice is done. "Justice will not be done behind closed doors in Iran."
Graham said he only heard the news about the rejection through media reports and not directly from Tehran officials.
"They are not co-operating with us," he said.
Kazemi, 54, was detained last year after taking photos of Tehran's Evin prison. She died on July 10 from head injuries while in custody.
An Iranian intelligence officer was charged in August. The trial is due to begin July 17, 2004.
Kazemi's son, Stephan Hachemi, has been pressuring Ottawa to get his mother's body back for an independent autopsy. His mother was buried in Iran.
Hachemi says there will be no justice in an Iranian court.
"They are criminals from A to Z. The judge in this case is under the chief prosecutor, who is directly responsible for this murder," said Hachemi at a news conference in Ottawa on Wednesday.
PROFILE: Shirin Abadi (http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/nobel/ebadi.html)
The Iranian Parliament condemned chief Tehran prosecutor Saeed Mortazavi last October for refusing to come before it and justify Kazemi's detention, for accusing Kazemi of spying and for announcing the cause of her death as a stroke.
Kazemi's family will be represented at the trial by 2003 Nobel Prize winner Shirin Abadi. Abadi, a lawyer, is an activist for democracy and the rights of refugees, women and children. She is known for her work representing dissident writers and intellectuals killed in in the late 1990s.
Written by CBC News Online staff
Copyright ©2004 Canadian Broadcasting Corporation - All Rights Reserved
link (http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2004/07/14/Kazemi_040714.html)
RA Video (http://www.cbc.ca/clips/rm-lo/lawand_kazemi040714.rm)
QT Video (http://www.cbc.ca/clips/mov/lawand_kazemi040714.mov)
Last Updated Wed, 14 Jul 2004 13:18:51 EDT
OTTAWA - Canada is recalling its ambassador from Iran. The move is a protest because Iran won't allow a Canadian observer at a trial of the person accused of killing Zahra Kazemi, a photojournalist from Montreal.
Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham called Iran's decision "unacceptable behaviour." Graham says he will take the matter to the International Court of Justice.
INDEPTH: Zahra Kazemi (http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/kazemi/)
"It's a complete rejection of the rule of law," Graham said, expressing his "extreme outrage" over the decision.
"Under all human rights codes, under all international law standards, this should be a public trial with the right...of the family to be present to assure that justice is done. "Justice will not be done behind closed doors in Iran."
Graham said he only heard the news about the rejection through media reports and not directly from Tehran officials.
"They are not co-operating with us," he said.
Kazemi, 54, was detained last year after taking photos of Tehran's Evin prison. She died on July 10 from head injuries while in custody.
An Iranian intelligence officer was charged in August. The trial is due to begin July 17, 2004.
Kazemi's son, Stephan Hachemi, has been pressuring Ottawa to get his mother's body back for an independent autopsy. His mother was buried in Iran.
Hachemi says there will be no justice in an Iranian court.
"They are criminals from A to Z. The judge in this case is under the chief prosecutor, who is directly responsible for this murder," said Hachemi at a news conference in Ottawa on Wednesday.
PROFILE: Shirin Abadi (http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/nobel/ebadi.html)
The Iranian Parliament condemned chief Tehran prosecutor Saeed Mortazavi last October for refusing to come before it and justify Kazemi's detention, for accusing Kazemi of spying and for announcing the cause of her death as a stroke.
Kazemi's family will be represented at the trial by 2003 Nobel Prize winner Shirin Abadi. Abadi, a lawyer, is an activist for democracy and the rights of refugees, women and children. She is known for her work representing dissident writers and intellectuals killed in in the late 1990s.
Written by CBC News Online staff
Copyright ©2004 Canadian Broadcasting Corporation - All Rights Reserved
link (http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2004/07/14/Kazemi_040714.html)
RA Video (http://www.cbc.ca/clips/rm-lo/lawand_kazemi040714.rm)
QT Video (http://www.cbc.ca/clips/mov/lawand_kazemi040714.mov)