Canada Recalls Envoy to Iran to Protest Closed Murder Trial

 
CREDIT: Hasan Sarbakhshian, the Associated Press
Ezzat Kazemi, mother of Zahra Kazemi, appealed to the court on Saturday for justice, and yesterday her lawyer reacted angrily to the 'flawed, incomplete' investigation and trial. The elder Ms. Kazemi said her daughter's body, which was buried on the orders of Iranian authorities, showed obvious evidence of torture.

July 18 (Bloomberg) -- Canada decided to recall its ambassador to Iran for the second time in a week to protest a decision to again bar foreign observers from the trial of the accused killer of Iranian-Canadian journalist Zahra Kazemi.
``There can be no justice behind closed doors,'' Canadian Foreign Minister Bill Graham said in a statement in Ottawa. The ambassador ``will be returning to Canada immediately.'' Graham canceled an order earlier this week to bring back its envoy after promises the trial would be opened to observers.
Iranian officials today blocked reporters and Canadian, French and British diplomats from entering a courtroom in Tehran and then halted the trial, Agence France-Presse said. Iranian intelligence agent Mohammad Reza Aghdam Ahmadi faces a charge of ``semi-intentional murder'' for the death, a charge with a maximum penalty of three years in jail, AFP said.
Kazemi died in an Iranian hospital last July from a brain hemorrhage after being arrested for taking pictures outside Tehran's Evin prison.