‘It’s wonderful’
Homa Hoodfar returns home after Iran prison ordeal
A Canadian-Iranian woman who spent nearly four months in prison in Iran was greeted with hugs and flowers as she landed in Montreal on Thursday and declared it was great to be back in Canada.
“It’s wonderful to be home and reunited with family and friends again,” Homa Hoodfar told a news conference at Pierre Elliott Trudeau Airport, a few days after being released from prison and flown to Oman.
Hoodfar, 65, said she feels frail and tired after her ordeal but that her health is improving.
The retired anthropology professor said she didn’t believe she was actually on the way home until she was aboard the plane out of Iran.
“I didn’t feel I would be released until I was in the jet,” she said. “As they say, in Iran, nothing is possible and everything is possible.”
And Hoodfar made it clear that returning to Iran is not in her plans.
“I think for a while I’m going to stay in Montreal,” she said laughing.
“I love the summer in Montreal and I miss the fact that this summer I didn’t have my geraniums.”
Hoodfar had been detained since June 6 at Tehran’s notorious Evin prison on allegations of “dabbling in feminism” and security matters. Homa Hoodfar gets a kiss from her nephew Saam Hamzavi as she arrives at Trudeau Airport Thursday in Montreal. Hoodfar, a Canadian-Iranian academic was held in Iran’s Evin prison for more than 100 days.
The ex-Concordia University professor, who did not speak specifically about her detention, said the most difficult part of her imprisonment was not being able to speak to friends and family.
“Not knowing what is happening and knowing my family are very worried and not being able to talk to me,” she said, holding the hand of her niece, Amanda Ghahremani.
Hoodfar is known for her research on Muslim women in various regions of the world and there were suggestions Iranian authorities were particularly struck by her research on homosexuality and women’s sexuality in the context of Muslim countries.
She travelled to Iran in February to see family and do academic research but was arrested in March, just as she was set to return to Montreal. She was released on bail and then rearrested in early June.
But although she won’t be heading back to Iran, Hoodfar said she wouldn’t be stopping her work any time soon.
“Not only has (my imprisonment) not stopped me from that, it’s opened me to new avenues I maybe wouldn’t have pursued in the same way before,” she said.
Hoodfar even joked about her ordeal, saying she’d previously been media shy and reluctant to speak publicly about her work.
“Now you see what the Iranian government has done,” she said with a laugh, gesturing to the dozens of media assembled around her.
Her family had feared the worst in recent weeks, saying her health was deteriorating while in solitary confinement.
Since Canada has no diplomatic presence in Iran, the governments of Oman, Italy and Switzerland stepped in to help free her.
Canada has not had an embassy in Iran since 2012, when the Stephen Harper-led Conservative government cut diplomatic ties over Tehran’s contested nuclear program and other issues.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in a statement earlier this week the Canadian government had “actively” worked for Hoodfar’s release. EDMONTON — The Catholic Bishops of Alberta and the Northwest Territories have issued guidelines that say priests should refuse funerals for some people who have assisted suicide. The document calls physician-assisted death a “grave sin” that contradicts the teachings of the Catholic church. It says priests should weigh the circumstances of each funeral request, but those for high-profile assisted deaths should be refused. It also says families who want to celebrate the assisted death decisions of their loved ones should be denied church funerals. BOWMANVILLE, Ont. — Police have charged a 21-yearold man who they say inadvertently ran over and killed his friend east of Toronto after trying to get him medical help. Durham regional police say the man and his friend were parked in a pickup truck allegedly taking “narcotics” around 5 p.m. Wednesday in Bowmanville, Ont. They say the 29-year-old passenger suffered an “unexpected medical episode” and became unresponsive. Police say the man removed his friend from the truck and began resuscitation efforts before taking off in the truck to call for help. They allege when he returned, he accidentally ran over his friend, who was later pronounced dead in hospital. Zachary Pepper has been charged with impaired care or control of a motor vehicle causing death.