|
Iran court told Canadian was tortured to death
Canadian journalist Zahra Kazemi was tortured to death in Iranian custody, her tearful mother told a court on Saturday when the trial resumed of an intelligence agent accused of the killing. "There were burns on my daughter's chest, her fingers and toes and nose were broken ... she was tortured to death," Ezzat Kazemi told the court after a nine-month delay in proceedings.The case has strained Iran's relations with Canada, prompting Ottawa to withdraw its ambassador this week, and has exposed deep rifts between President Mohammad Khatami's reformist government and the hardline judiciary. The intelligence agent, Mohammad Reza Aqdam, has denied a charge of what the court calls the semi-intentional murder of Kazemi, a 54-year-old of Iranian descent who was arrested outside Tehran's Evin prison last July for taking photographs. The charge, lesser than murder or manslaughter, carries a possible penalty of up to three years in jail and the payment of blood money to the victim's family. The judiciary initially said Kazemi died of a stroke, but a government inquiry ordered by Khatami showed she received a heavy blow which split her skull, causing a brain haemorrhage. She died in hospital 10 days after lapsing into a coma. During more than 72 hours in Evin prison, Kazemi was interrogated separately by police, judiciary and Intelligence Ministry officials. "I have complaints against all of those involved in her arrest and murder," said Ezzat Kazemi, adding she wanted other people brought to justice in the case. Posted by: Mark Espinola 2004-07-17 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=38368 |