National

Canadians demand Iran hunger-striker be freed

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 08 Sep, 2020 05:38 PM

The Canadian legal team for an imprisoned Iranian human-rights lawyer is calling for federal sanctions and United Nations intervention as she wages a life-threatening hunger strike entering its 29th day.

Nasrin Sotoudeh was hospitalized briefly on Monday in Tehran but has since been returned to the women's ward of the notorious Evin Prison, where she has been held since June 2018, says Yonah Diamond, one of her Montreal-based lawyers.

Sotoudeh, 57, has lost at least 15 pounds and is suffering from unstable blood pressure, memory loss, migraines, vomiting and dehydration, and Diamond says that while she is determined to carry on her fight, her life is very much at risk.

Sotoudeh's legal team is being led by former Canadian justice minister Irwin Cotler, the founder of the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights in Montreal.

Cotler calls Sotoudeh the "Mandela of Iran" because of her outspoken advocacy for female inmates, young people and journalists and her opposition to the death penalty.

She was sentenced to 38 years in prison and 148 lashes in March 2019, a sentence she continues to serve despite Iran's release of scores of prisoners due to overcrowded prisons that are now breeding grounds for COVID-19.

Prev Next

MORE National ARTICLES

Trudeau Liberals come out ahead in new survey

A new poll suggests Prime Minister Justin Trudeau would be well placed to fight an election this fall, seen as the leader best able to care for Canadians during the COVID-19 pandemic and to get the economy back on its feet.

Trudeau Liberals come out ahead in new survey

Doctors want health care as top election issue

The New Brunswick Medical Society is calling on political parties to make health care the top priority of the provincial election campaign.

Doctors want health care as top election issue

O'Toole pledges to fight for middle class

Newly elected Conservative Leader Erin O'Toole said Tuesday that as leader, and as a prime minister, he will stand up for the rights of women and the LGBTQ community, and he intends to apply that fighting spirit to all his files.

O'Toole pledges to fight for middle class

B.C. records 175 overdose deaths in July

British Columbia's chief coroner says 175 people fatally overdosed in July, matching the same total in June as access to harm-reduction services such as a safer supply of drugs remains a challenge.

B.C. records 175 overdose deaths in July

First B.C. school to start this year lays out plan

There were two questions that nagged at Kyla Blair when the school where she works — and that her children attend — restarted class. Would her kids be safe? And would she be able to help keep other kids safe?

First B.C. school to start this year lays out plan

Mounties issued 4 COVID-19 related fines to Surrey Businesses over the weekend

The Surrey COVID-19 Compliance and Enforcement Team (CCET) issued $2,300 fines to one restaurant, two event/banquet spaces, and one after hours club on August 23.