U of A staff association urges release of Montreal professor detained in Iran

The Association of Academic Staff of the University of Alberta is demanding the Iranian government release a Montreal professor who has been held without formal charges for nearly two weeks in one of the country’s most notorious prisons.

Homa Hoodfar, 65, an anthropology professor at Concordia University who is known for her research on women, feminism and family in Muslim societies, was detained in Evin Prison after being questioned by authorities June 6.

Hoodfar was born in Iran, but has lived in Montreal for 30 years. She travelled to Iran in February to see family and to conduct research on women in the country.

She was initially arrested in March, but was released on bail. Authorities kept her passport and other personal belongings, and summoned her for several rounds of interrogations, her niece Amanda Ghahremani told The Canadian Press. Hoodfar has been accused of sedition, but is not yet facing any charges, the association said.

The group is calling on Foreign Affairs Minister Stéphane Dion to urge the Iranian government to release Hoodfar immediately and return her academic property.