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MONTREAL — A group of Montreal academics is urging governments to get involved to secure the freedom of a Canadian-Iranian professor jailed in Iran.
Homa Hoodfar, who taught at Concordia University, is being held at Tehran’s notorious Evin prison and recent reports suggest her health is deteriorating.
Hoodfar is being held on what supporters and family call trumped-up charges of collaboration with a hostile government and propaganda against the state.
Professors at Concordia say some 5,000 academics worldwide have signed a petition in support of Hoodfar and that academics rallied outside the Iranian Embassy in Dublin on Wednesday.
Hoodfar also has Irish citizenship.
Kimberley Manning of Concordia’s Simone de Beauvoir Institute told a news conference several actions are planned to ratchet up the pressure on Iran.
“I am getting emails from friends and colleagues from across the country wanting to know how to help,” Manning said. “We see the protest this morning in Dublin as just the beginning of a series of national and international events that will take place over the coming weeks.”
Hoodfar, a 65-year-old retired anthropology professor, was born in Iran but has lived in Montreal for 30 years.
She is known for her research on Muslim women in various regions of the world.
Her family has said she travelled to Iran in February to see family and conduct academic research.
Hoodfar was initially arrested in March, shortly before she was to return home.
She was released on bail but was rearrested June 6.
Global Affairs Canada has said several times that Hoodfar’s case remains a “priority” for the government but that it is hamstrung to a degree because it does not have direct diplomatic ties with Iran.
