Iranian government harassing families of plane crash victims, sources say
They’ve been told not to talk to the media, keep their mourning as private as possible and even publicly praise the regime that mistakenly shot down their loved ones’ airliner.
The families of the Iran plane crash victims — most of them Canadians or heading to Canada — are still in the depths of mourning for their relatives.
But that hasn’t stopped Tehran from closely monitoring and harassing family living in the country, using release of the victims’ remains as leverage, various sources allege.
One mother received a visit from security officers after she openly pleaded for help from Canada and a video of her outburst went viral, says a U.S.based Iranian journalist.
Another family had to welcome government minders into their private mourning ceremony, said an Iranian-Canadian briefed on their situation.
“They know the anger, they know they are furious,” said Masih Alinejad, a widely followed Iranian journalist based in New York. “They know that if these families came out in public and shared their pain and put the blame on the Islamic Republic,
the whole of society in Iran would be united against the Islamic Republic. They are scared of that.”
Most of the reports could not be independently verified by the National Post, but details are similar between them, and aspects of one case are documented on video.
The federal government, which has consular officials in Iran trying to meet with families, is aware of the alleged mistreatment, said John Babcock, a spokesman for Foreign Minister
François-Philippe Champagne. The government is especially concerned that victims’ remains be allowed to return to this country, he said.
“Canada is deeply concerned by reports of Iranian authorities pressuring Iranian-Canadians not to repatriate remains to Canada,” said Babcock. “The Iranian government must respect the will of the families when it comes to the repatriation of the bodies: this is a message that the minister of Foreign Affairs has conveyed directly to his Iranian counterpart.”
THEY KNOW THE ANGER
Canada will also stress the issue at a meeting of the “international coordination and response group” for victims of Ukraine International Airlines flight PS752 in London on Thursday, said Babcock.
After initially denying any culpability, Iran admitted it mistakenly shot down the jet with anti-aircraft missiles last Wednesday. Of the 176 victims, 57 were Canadian citizens and 81 others headed to this country, many to continue post-secondary studies after the Christmas break.
One Iranian family of Canadian victims arrived at a government office to provide a DNA sample as part of the process to claim the remains and were taken into a separate room by security officers, says an Ontario-based Iranian-Canadian briefed by a close family friend.
“They said if you discuss with any other media, especially outside media … you won’t get the body or the process will be delayed or you will face the consequences,” said the person, who asked not to be named to avoid repercussions for family in Iran. “Consequences … can mean sending them to jail.”