Canada on Wednesday recalled its ambassador to Iran, raising the stakes in what had been a war of words over Tehran's decision to bar observers from the trial of the accused killer of Iranian-Canadian journalist Zahra Kazemi.
Canadian Foreign Minister Bill Graham said he was recalling Ottawa's ambassador to Tehran, Philip MacKinnon, and was summoning Iran's ambassador to Ottawa, S.M. Ali Mousavi, to make clear Canada's displeasure at Iran's decision to ban Canadian observers from the trial.
Graham told reporters he was considering other measures to push Tehran to accept Canadian demands.
"We were informed by Iran this morning of their intention not to let Canadian observers at the trial," Graham said.
"This is completely unacceptable," he added, while accompanied by Kazemi's son, Stephan Hashemi.
"There should be a public trial to see that justice is done," he said.
Tehran's decision to ban Canadian observers, Graham claimed, contravened its pledge for a full and open trial.
The case involved "the death of a Canadian journalist in Iran," and Canada had the right to see justice being done, he said.
"This is not the case in a secret trial," he said. "We do not accept the position of Iran."
Iran has already told Ottawa to mind its own business.
"Iran does not feel at all obliged to accept the presence of Canadian observers in this trial," foreign ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said of the high-profile case.
He branded Graham's earlier complaints as "unacceptable" and "against all international principles and laws," but did not rule out that Canadian diplomats may be allowed to attend.
"The case is a domestic issue which is being taken care of by the Islamic Republic of Iran's judiciary, and the government is seriously following the case to see a fair trial and justice done," he asserted.
Iranian intelligence agent Mohammad Reza Aghdam Ahmadi faces the charge of "semi-intentional murder," a year after Kazemi died from injuries sustained while in custody in Tehran.
According to an official report, the 54-year-old photographer was hit on the head by a blunt object -- reportedly a shoe -- while being interrogated. She died in hospital on July 10 last year from a brain hemorrhage.
She had been arrested for taking pictures outside Tehran's notorious Evin prison, which at the time was packed with thousands of protesters from last summer's anti-regime demonstrations.
Back in Ottawa, when asked if Canada would take Iran to the International Court of Justice, Graham said: "That is a possibility. But there are problems."
The main problem, he said, was that "all sides must agree" to the court's jurisdiction.
Asked about possible economic sanctions against Iran, he said: "It is time to consider everything. We have to look at what can be effective."
Hashemi interjected: "Economic sanctions can harm the people more than the government."
Indonesia yesterday began enforcing its newly ratified penal code, replacing a Dutch-era criminal law that had governed the country for more than 80 years and marking a major shift in its legal landscape. Since proclaiming independence in 1945, the Southeast Asian country had continued to operate under a colonial framework widely criticized as outdated and misaligned with Indonesia’s social values. Efforts to revise the code stalled for decades as lawmakers debated how to balance human rights, religious norms and local traditions in the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation. The 345-page Indonesian Penal Code, known as the KUHP, was passed in 2022. It
‘DISRESPECTFUL’: Katie Miller, the wife of Trump’s most influential adviser, drew ire by posting an image of Greenland in the colors of the US flag, captioning it ‘SOON’ US President Donald Trump on Sunday doubled down on his claim that Greenland should become part of the US, despite calls by the Danish prime minister to stop “threatening” the territory. Washington’s military intervention in Venezuela has reignited fears for Greenland, which Trump has repeatedly said he wants to annex, given its strategic location in the arctic. While aboard Air Force One en route to Washington, Trump reiterated the goal. “We need Greenland from the standpoint of national security, and Denmark is not going to be able to do it,” he said in response to a reporter’s question. “We’ll worry about Greenland in
PERILOUS JOURNEY: Over just a matter of days last month, about 1,600 Afghans who were at risk of perishing due to the cold weather were rescued in the mountains Habibullah set off from his home in western Afghanistan determined to find work in Iran, only for the 15-year-old to freeze to death while walking across the mountainous frontier. “He was forced to go, to bring food for the family,” his mother, Mah Jan, said at her mud home in Ghunjan village. “We have no food to eat, we have no clothes to wear. The house in which I live has no electricity, no water. I have no proper window, nothing to burn for heating,” she added, clutching a photograph of her son. Habibullah was one of at least 18 migrants who died
Russia early yesterday bombarded Ukraine, killing two people in the Kyiv region, authorities said on the eve of a diplomatic summit in France. A nationwide siren was issued just after midnight, while Ukraine’s military said air defenses were operating in several places. In the capital, a private medical facility caught fire as a result of the Russian strikes, killing one person and wounding three others, the State Emergency Service of Kyiv said. It released images of rescuers removing people on stretchers from a gutted building. Another pre-dawn attack on the neighboring city of Fastiv killed one man in his 70s, Kyiv Governor Mykola
RSS