Canadian professor hospitalised after prolonged detention in Iran

The family of a Canadian academic imprisoned in Iran says she has been hospitalised after spending several months in solitary confinement at Tehran's Evin prison.

Homa Hoodfar, 65, was hospitalised for unknown reasons after reportedly being disoriented, weak, and having trouble walking and talking, her niece Amanda Ghahremani told The New Arab on Wednesday.

"We are getting very little information from the prison. We're getting very little information about how she's doing. We heard she was hospitalised, but we don't even know why she was hospitalised," Ghahremani said.

Hoodfar, a women's rights researcher and long-time anthropology professor at Concordia University in Montreal, suffers from a neurological condition known as myasthenia gravis, which causes muscular weakness, and chronic headaches, Ghahremani explained.

"She has a number of medications that she needs to take, and those medications were delivered to the authorities several times, but we just don't know whether they've actually been given to her [or] whether she's receiving them regularly," she said.

"That's a problem. We don't know if she's seeing a specialist regularly."

'Dabbling in feminism'

Hoodfar, who holds Iranian, Canadian and Irish citizenships, went to Iran earlier this year to visit family and conduct research into women's rights in the country, her family has said.

She was first detained in March, after members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard searched her home and seized many of her personal effects. At that time, she was released from custody, but prevented from leaving Iran.

She was arrested again on June 6, and transferred to Evin prison near the capital. Later that month, the public prosecutor announced through Iranian media that Hoodfar was being investigated for "dabbling in feminism and security matters".

She has since been accused of collaborating with a hostile government against national security and of propaganda against the state, charges that carry a maximum sentence of 10 years each, her family said in a statement this week.

She has since been accused of collaborating with a hostile government against national security and of propaganda against the state, charges that carry a maximum sentence of 10 years each, her family said in a statement this week.

Ghahremani said Hoodfar met with her lawyer only once since her detention began: they had a 10-minute meeting in July, but they were told they could not discuss the case.

"In terms of her due process rights, she hasn't effectively had any access to legal counsel, and then the lawyer hasn't had any access to her files," Ghahremani said.

She accused the Iranian court hearing the case of putting pressure on her aunt's lawyer in an attempt to have him dismissed.

"The goal I think is then to be able to replace the lawyer with a lawyer that is going to be much more compliant with the court, so that she doesn't really have any independent legal counsel," Ghahremani said.

Hoodfar is still being held in solitary confinement and has not had the opportunity to post bail, Ghahremani said. "Clearly, they're isolating her," she said.

"It just all leads to the fact that they're still trying to probably put pressure on her to isolate her and maybe even force a false confession from her. These are our speculations, but that's really what it indicates to us."

Canada without diplomatic ties

The Canadian government says it is "actively engaged" on the case and remains "very concerned" about Hoodfar's health, wellbeing and continued detention in Iran.

But Canada does not have diplomatic ties to Iran. Ottawa severed its formal relationship with Tehran in 2012 under the previous Conservative government, shuttering its embassy and expelling Iranian diplomats from the country.

"In the absence of diplomatic representation of our own, we are working with countries of influence and pursuing the best course of action to press the case and secure her safe return to her family, friends and colleagues," Michael O'Shaughnessy, a spokesperson for Global Affairs Canada, told The New Arab in an email.

But since Hoodfar is also an Irish citizen, her niece Ghahremani urged the Irish government, which has diplomatic relations with Iran, to become more involved.

"The challenges posed by the absence of a diplomatic presence cannot be underestimated." 

Canada's Foreign Affairs Minister Stephane Dion and Parliamentary Secretary, MP Omar Alghabra, have met Ghahremani and remain in regular contact with her, O'Shaughnessy said.

But since Hoodfar is also an Irish citizen, her niece Ghahremani urged the Irish government, which has diplomatic relations with Iran, to become more involved.

"I'm quite satisfied with the attention that the Canadian government has been giving this case and I know that they're doing what they can. But there needs to be more collaboration and the Irish really need to step up and be involved, as well," she said.

Alana Maxwell, a spokesperson for Ireland's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, told The New Arab in a brief e-mail Wednesday that the department "is actively working on the case". Maxwell did not elaborate any further.

International support

A petition calling for Hoodfar's release has been signed by over 5,200 academics from around the world, including professors Noam Chomsky and Richard Falk.

Leading Islamic scholars have also written a letter to Iran's Ayatollah Khamenei, asking the religious leader to intervene in Hoodfar’s case and expedite "the dismissal of all these baseless accusations against her".

Meanwhile, Ghahremani said her aunt's continued detention has been emotionally exhausting for her family.

"It's been an extremely emotional and difficult few months," she said.

"We're very scared for her. We're very scared about what could happen. We know she's innocent and we know she's alone and that's really difficult to deal with as a family member."