Lawyers seek ‘Iranian assets’
Attorneys try to secure $107M for families of those killed in plane tragedy
Lawyers who won a court-ordered $107 million in damages for families of those killed when Iranian forces shot down a passenger plane say they will look into having Iranian state assets in Canada seized.
The civil suit was brought by five plaintiffs who were surviving family members of six people killed on Ukraine Airlines Flight PS752, which was shot down by the Islamic Republic of Iran two years ago.
The plane was carrying 167 passengers in January 2020, including 85 Canadian citizens or permanent residents, and 53 others who were on their way to Canada via Kyiv.
The recent ruling by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice to award $107 million in damages, plus interest and costs, to the families of the six victims came after a previous decision determined the incident was a “terrorist act” carried out by Iran. The lawyers representing the families have called the decision “unprecedented” in Canadian law.
The question now is how the lawyers might get those funds into the hands of the families.
“Canadian court has no jurisdiction over assets outside of the territorial limits of Canada … We can ask for writs of seizure and sale, but those are only effective in Ontario,” said Mark Arnold, one of the lawyers representing the families, at a Tuesday news conference.
But there are other avenues to get at Iranian assets, Arnold said, especially if they’re physically located in Canada.
He pointed to a previous Ontario Superior Court proceeding he was involved in called Tracy v. Iran, in which the court ordered that Iran’s non-diplomatic assets within Canada be used to pay victims of terrorist groups sponsored by the Iranian government.
Arnold said in that case they were able to seize and sell Iranian properties, including cultural centres and pieces of land, and ultimately recovered about $30 million, which was distributed among the victims’ estates.
“So there are precedents and, yes, we are looking for Iranian assets and indeed we have found some in Canada,” Arnold said.
He did not offer further details, saying he did not want to present Iran the chance to divest properties that could be potentially seized.
The decision was seen as a victory by a family member of two victims, albeit a bittersweet one.
Shahin Moghaddam, who lost his wife, Shakiba, and their son, Rosstin, in the attack, said he couldn’t stop crying when he heard the news.
“The feeling is so strange. It was happiness, it was sadness, it was madness … It’s so complicated. For me, it was a victory,” Moghaddam said.
“The thing is the money (will not) bring them back to us … The point of this fight was to reach justice as much as we can.”
Arnold criticized the Canadian government for being “inactive” in pursuing justice and compensation for the victims.
“I’ve received lots of emails of congratulations and good words, but not a single member of our government, either the elected government or the bureaucracy, that called or emailed me,” Arnold said. “They don’t seem to care. So if there are families on this call, you cannot put faith in your government to protect you, regretfully.”
The plane was shot down as Washington and Tehran teetered on the precipice of war. Just hours beforehand, Iran had fired ballistic missiles at U.S. bases in Iraq in retaliation for the U.S. drone strike that killed top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad.
After days of denial, Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard publicly apologized for the downing and blamed it on an air defence operator who authorities said had mistaken the Boeing 737-800 for an American cruise missile.
‘‘
The point of this fight was to reach justice as much as we can.
SHAHIN MOGHADDAM FAMILY MEMBER