Posted on 07/17/2004 8:05:23 AM PDT by Clive
OTTAWA (CP) - The federal government was checking a report Friday suggesting the Iranian trial into the beating death of a Canadian photojournalist will indeed be open to the public.
An outraged Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham recalled the ambassador to Iran earlier this week after Iran barred Canadian observers from monitoring the Tehran trial into the killing of Zahra Kazemi.
But a vaguely worded report out of Iran had federal officials wondering on the eve of Saturday's court hearing whether the trial would actually be a public event.
"We're unclear about the exact meaning of this," said Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Isabelle Savard.
A story by the Iranian Students' News Agency - which was then translated into English and distributed by the Iranian Embassy in Ottawa - left the impression of an open trial.
"An open court trial . . . shall be held tomorrow . . . with the attendance of media reporters," said the translated version.
Savard said it was unclear whether Canada would be able to send observers, and it was also difficult to tell just which news media would be allowed to attend.
"Does it mean only Iranian media, only selected media, or does it mean open press coverage? Basically we don't know what this means," she said.
"But an open trial would certainly be good news."
Kazemi's son - Stephan Hachemi - joined a small but vocal band of protesters at the Iranian Embassy on Friday to demand justice in her murder case.
Hachemi and about a dozen other demonstrators railed at the embassy with bullhorns and chants from the sidewalk across the street.
The noisy protest followed the diplomatic rebuke earlier this week from the federal government.
"It's really the public displaying its anger over this case," Hachemi said.
"We want to make sure we make Zahra Kazemi's case an example so they understand they can't act with impunity against somebody - that human rights are important and they have to be respected."
A pastel portrait of the late Iranian-Canadian photojournalist was placed on the sidewalk facing the embassy building.
Kazemi died last year in Iranian custody after she was arrested outside a Tehran prison.
Iranian authorities at first said Kazemi died of a stroke following her arrest for photographing a protest. They eventually charged an intelligence agent with her beating death.
The incident has strained diplomatic relations.
Iran has insisted the trial will be fair and impartial. But Canada says the secrecy of the proceedings violates international standards and has twice recalled its ambassador in less than a year.
-
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.