Concordia rallies for professor jailed in Iran
‘We need her back,’ says former student of imprisoned professor
Former students of imprisoned Concordia professor Homa Hoodfar rallied in downtown Montreal to demand the release of their “beloved professor” who has been detained in an Iranian jail for 107 days.
Hoodfar, 65, a professor emerita and respected anthropologist, has been held in Iran’s notorious Evin prison on several charges, including “dabbling in feminism” and “collaboration with a hostile government.”
“It’s terrifying to think of our dear professor in this situation — she is sick and unwell and we need her back,” said Hayley Lewis, a former student of Hoodfar’s who organized the protest at Norman Bethune Square. “It’s outrageous and devastating to think that such a wonderful woman could be in such a bad situation. We can’t afford to see her disappear.”
About 200 people, including Concordia professors, Hoodfar’s friends and several activists attended the protest on Wednesday afternoon. Many of Hoodfar’s friends fought back tears as the crowd chanted: “Free Homa, Free Homa!”
Several of Hoodfar’s colleagues gave heartfelt speeches saying they’re worried about their friend, whose health is failing. “I can’t, in my heart, imagine Homa in the dark place where she is in right now,” said Margie Mendell, a Concordia professor who has known Hoodfar for more than 20 years. “I cannot imagine the days as they roll one into the next. She’s an extraordinarily strong character ... but her inner strength is insufficient to give her what she needs in order to stay healthy, in order to stay alive.
Hoodfar suffers from a neuromuscular disease (myasthenia gravis) and had a mild stroke last year.
Mendell described her friend as a brilliant, warm woman with a great sense of humour. “Her home was always open and as you walked up the stairs you would have this wonderful aroma of her exquisite Persian cooking,” said Mendell, a professor at the school of community and public affairs.
She urged the Concordia community to mobilize and keep Hoodfar’s story alive. “We have to get Homa home,” she said. “We will not gather again to say that she has been in prison for 200 days. We will gather together to welcome her home and to celebrate her freedom.”
Hoodfar holds Canadian, Iranian and Irish citizenship and there have been demonstrations in Dublin calling on the Irish government to lobby for her release. Hoodfar worked in the United Kingdom and Ireland before coming to Canada in the early 1990s.
Canada does not have diplomatic relations with Iran, but Chantal Gagnon, press secretary for Foreign Affairs Minister Stéphane Dion, said in an email to the Montreal Gazette on Wednesday that “we are working with countries of influence and pursuing the best course of action to press the case and to secure her safe return to her family, friends and colleagues.
“The challenges posed by the absence of Canada’s diplomatic presence in Iran cannot be underestimated,” Gagnon added. “Privacy considerations and the fact this is an active case prevent us from discussing Government involvement in further detail, however rest assured that this case is a priority for us.”
Dion tweeted on Tuesday that he had his first meeting with Iran’s foreign minister at the United Nations General Assembly and “discussed consular cases.”
Ireland has diplomatic ties with Iran and Concordia professor Kimberley Manning urged people to contact the Irish government and also put pressure on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to try and secure Hoodfar’s release.
Hoodfar returned to her native Iran almost annually for about 30 years, colleagues said. She returned again last winter, shortly after her husband died, and did some research in the parliamentary archives.
Before her scheduled return to Montreal in March, security forces raided her residence and seized her computer, research documents and passports.
Her family said she was subject to many interrogations and was imprisoned on June 6. Later that month, a prosecutor in Iran said she was being investigated for “dabbling in feminism” and “security matters.”
Colleagues at Concordia said Hoodfar had no idea that she would be in danger if she returned to Iran. Mendell said Hoodfar loved to go home to visit family and friends. “She loves her country,” she said. “We even talked about going together at some point.”