iran, canada: Ebadi threatens international suit over dead journalist

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Shirin Ebadi (second left), the Nobel Peace Prize laureate leading a team of lawyers representing Canadian-Iranian photographer Zahra Kazemi at the trial of an intelligence agent accused of killing Kazemi while in custody, at a press conference with her legal team: Mohammad Seifzadeh (left), Mohammad Ali Dadkhah (third left) and Abdolfattah Soltanifar

Nobel laureate and human rights lawyer Shirin Ebadi has warned the Iranian regime that she could take the case of an Iranian-Canadian photographer killed in custody in Teheran to an international court if justice was not served in the Islamic republic.“We have many legal means to defend the rights of our clients, and conforming with the law, if the client asks it, we will bring the case before an international tribunal”, she told reporters.Her comments came after Iran’s judiciary, accused of a cover-up in the death of Zahra Kazemi, barred diplomats and journalists from the trial of her alleged killer and then abruptly halted the case.As the second round of hearings into the controversial case opened, Canadian Ambassador Philip MacKinnon, Dutch Ambassador Hein de Vries as well as senior French and British diplomats were bluntly told to stay out.The foreign press were also barred from the court, and Ebadi and her legal team -- who are representing Kazemi’s family -- stormed out after the judge rejected their call for more witnesses and ended the hearings.“This is a very serious development; there will be diplomatic consequences”, one of the diplomats said after waiting in his car outside the court for more than an hour and failing to get a permit to enter.“This goes against all the assurances we have had that the trial will be open and transparent”, another diplomat added. “The cause of human rights in Iran has taken a very serious blow today”.Canada reacted swiftly, announcing the “immediate recall” of Ambassador MacKinnon.Foreign Minister Bill Graham said, “I am disapointed but not surprised by this flagrant denial of due process. ...There can be no justice behind closed doors”.Ottawa had announced during the week that it would recall MacKinnon, then reversed its decision, before deciding to pull the envoy over the barring of diplomats and the controversial end to the trial.Kazemi, a 54-year-old freelance photographer and a dual national, was arrested in June last for taking pictures outside Teheran’s Evin prison. She died from a brain hemorrhage on July 10, 2003.The judiciary initially claimed she had died of a stroke, but a government report later revealed she had been struck by a blunt object while being interrogated.
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