HOMA HOODFAR’S STATE OF HEALTH: MINISTER DION MUST ACT

The NDP Critic for Foreign Affairs, Hélène Laverdière, issued the following statement:

We learned this morning that Canadian Homa Hoodfar, a 65-year-old woman who has been incarcerated in Iran since June 6, has been hospitalized due to the rapid deterioration of her health in prison. According to her family members, she was disoriented when she was admitted to the hospital and very weak, barely able to walk or speak. It is not clear whether Ms. Hoodfar, a retired professor at Concordia University, has had access to adequate medical care up until now.

Given the circumstances, we are calling on Minister Dion to act quickly to have Ms. Hoodfar released so she can return to Canada as soon as possible to receive the medical care she needs.

Ms. Hoodfar travelled to Iran in February to visit family members and carry out academic research. She was arrested by the counter-intelligence unit of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards in March, and then again in June, for unclear motives. According to her family, she was kept in isolation in deplorable conditions.

We are calling on the Liberal government to take action immediately to protect the rights and the health of this Canadian citizen who has been detained in Iran.