Posted on 07/14/2004 1:28:13 PM PDT by SB00
OTTAWA (CP) - A furious Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham recalled the ambassador to Iran on Wednesday after Tehran barred Canadian observers from the trial of a man charged with killing a Canadian journalist.
An Iranian intelligence agent stands accused of "semi-intentional murder" in the death last year of Zahra Kazemi, a Montreal-based photographer of Iranian descent. "They had promised that we would have three observers," said Graham, who voiced his "extreme outrage" at the development. The trial is to start Saturday.
"This is completely unacceptable behaviour on their part," Graham fumed. "It's a complete rejection of the rule of law.
"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 did not receive a courtesy call about the rejection. He heard the news through media reports, not directly from Tehran officials.
"They are not co-operating with us," he said.
A Tehran official denied any duty to Canada.
"Iran has no obligation to accept the request for the presence of Canadian observers in this trial," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said on state television Wednesday.
The trial is an internal issue that the Islamic republic will handle "based on its own regulations," he said.
Human rights activist Shirin Ebadi, Iran's 2003 Nobel Peace Prize winner, is to represent the victim's family at trial.
Graham is not satisfied. He will weigh a range of other responses, from seeking a hearing at the International Court of Justice to slapping economic sanctions on Iran.
Kazemi died July 10, 2003, in Iranian custody. She was arrested 17 days earlier while photographing student-led protests against the ruling Islamic establishment outside a Tehran prison.
Iranian authorities at first said the 54-year-old died of a stroke. They eventually charged an intelligence agent with her beating death after a presidential-appointed committee found she died of a fractured skull and brain hemorrhage after being struck on the head.
Kazemi prided herself on exposing injustice in dangerous places, especially war zones. Her brutal end has strained diplomatic relations.
Ottawa first recalled its ambassador to Iran, Philip MacKinnon, soon after the murder but returned him when co-operation was promised.
Graham said the renewed recall signals a strong show of diplomatic disgust.
Kazemi's son, 26-year-old Stephan Hachemi, isn't convinced it will do much good.
"If Mr. Graham said that it's something really strong . . . then I'm glad. I'd like to believe him."
Hachemi said earlier Wednesday that Ottawa hasn't done enough to return his mother's body to Canada. Kazemi was buried in Iran against her son's wishes.
Nor have Canadian officials helped him obtain autopsy and other medical reports that will be crucial in any legal bid for compensation, he told an Ottawa news conference.
"We cannot get, by ourselves, any of this evidence," Hachemi said. "Basically we've got nothing."
He called the judicial process in Iran a "scapegoating" sham that won't bring those truly responsible to justice.
Kazemi's murder has fuelled a high-profile blame game between hard-liners and reformers within Iran's ruling Islamic regime.
Iranian reformists have accused hard-line Tehran prosecutor Saeed Mortazavi of illegally detaining Kazemi and then concealing the details of her death in custody.
They have also suggested that her treatment must have been influenced by directions from the most senior officials.
The man charged with the killing, intelligence agent Mohammad Reza Aghdam Ahmadi, pleaded innocent during earlier proceedings last October. His lawyer said Kazemi was beaten while in the custody of judiciary agents - before she was handed over to the Intelligence Ministry.
Kazemi's son only knows that he wants answers, and that he fears they won't come from a trial he calls "a masquerade."
I remember hearing that Canada expelled a few Soviet diplomats years ago for espionage, and the Soviets retaliated by doing likewise and said more or less they were insulted by an action like that from a "weak" country like Canada.
Hey, if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck.....alot of Middle Eastern countries are well aware how pathetic and weak we are, cowering beneath the umbrella of US protection, all the while wearing our hypocritical smirk of bemusement like we're some sort of moral super power while the US does the dirty work, we look to the world like we are harmless. The pathetic part is we did send what was the 4th largest contingent of support militarily to Iraq, however this was unofficial, so Canada's 'image' in the world wouldn't be tarnished. The contingent included 4 Frigates, a destroyer, planes and some troops, fighting within American and English units. Just like in Vietnam, when our soldiers volunteered for the US army, even though our gov't wouldn't officially 'endorse' the action. Sometimes I do wonder, whether it's set up that way - the good cop, bad cop sort of thing for north america. It certainly worked to advantage during the hostage crisis in Iran back in '79.
Either way, the Lib government has made us truly, truly pathetic, especially compared to what we once were in WW2 and prior.
He is so outrage that he recalled our ambassador for the 2nd time.
He is so outrage that he recalled our ambassador for the 2nd time.
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