Montreal court hears lawsuit against Iranian government
Stephan Hachemi has initiated a civil lawsuit before the Quebec High Court against the government of Iran in the death of his mother, photojournalist Zahra Kazemi. While visiting Tehran in June 2003, Ms Kazemi, who held dual Canadian and Iranian citizenship, was arrested, beaten, and died in custody. Despite repeated assurances by Iranian authorities that her death would be investigated, nothing concrete has been done.
A preliminary hearing is scheduled to begin tomorrow and last three days.
“Iran has displayed a clear desire to ensure that those responsible for Kazemi’s murder remain unpunished,” Reporters Without Borders said. “The authorities of Canada and the European Union should actively support the legitimate requests made by the Kazemi family’s lawyers and show no leniency towards Iran in this appalling affair.”
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The Kazemi family’s lawyers have repeatedly condemned all the judicial proceedings in Iran as a sham. Their requests for senior judicial officials to appear in court have never been satisfied, depriving them of key witnesses. Above all, Tehran chief prosecutor Said Mortazavi, who ordered Kazemi’s arrest and was present when she was interrogated in Evin prison, has never been questioned in court.
The doctor who examined Kazemi as she was dying of her injuries was so disturbed by what he saw that he fled to Canada in 2005 to expose the facts of her brutal torture.
Iran is expected to invoke Canada’s State Security Act in a motion to dismiss the lawsuit. In response, Mr Hachemi’s lawyers will argue that the State Security Act is incompatible with the Canadian Bill of Rights.
[...] MONTREAL COURT hears lawsuit against Iranian government: “Stephan Hachemi has initiated a civil lawsuit [...]