Federal officials are working to free a noted Canadian-Iranian academic arrested in Tehran after he reportedly challenged the claims of Iran's president that the Holocaust is a myth.
Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay confirmed yesterday his department is trying to help Ramin Jahanbegloo, who was detained on what are said to be espionage charges.
Mr. Jahanbegloo is reportedly being held at the notorious Evin prison. It is the same jail where the late Iranian-Canadian photographer Zahra Kazemi took photographs and was arrested for espionage. Ms. Kazemi later died in custody, causing a firestorm of Canadian protest.
Mr. Jahanbegloo was arrested more than a week ago, said a professor at the University of Toronto, where he worked for several years before returning to his native Iran.
History professor Mohammed Tavakoli said the "scholarly network" in Iran had been aware of the detention but had been keeping it quiet at the request of Mr. Jahanbegloo's immediate family. "His wife is very, very distressed."
"When I called Iran I found he'd been arrested 10 days ago," Mr. Tavakoli said. "The most recent news we are getting is that he's been hospitalized, which we consider to be good news. This could be the Iranian way of releasing him."
Mr. Jahanbegloo, a friend of Liberal member of Parliament and party leadership hopeful Michael Ignatieff, studied at the Sorbonne and Harvard and worked at the University of Toronto from 1997 to 2001, first as a visiting scholar and then as an adjunct professor in the department of political science. The author of 20 books in English, France and Persian, he returned to Iran in 2002.
According to the Spanish newspaper El Pais, Mr. Jahanbegloo wrote an article in which he quoted a number of Iranian intellectuals who were critical of their government's campaign against its opponents. The newspaper also cited a source close to the situation who suggested that the philosopher's arrest may be related to a separate interview with an unidentified Spanish paper, in which he criticized Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's ideas about the Holocaust.
"He's a brave kind of guy," Mr. Tavakoli said. "He writes on modernity . . . he has written on Martin Luther King and his relevance to Iran, he has written on Gandhi and the relevance of his non-violence."
Human Rights Watch cited news sources from the area that said Mr. Jahanbegloo is being held incommunicado and that charges will be announced "after the interrogations."
"Iran's judiciary is notorious for coercing confessions by means of torture and ill treatment," Peter Stork, an official with the human-rights agency, said in a statement. "We hold the Iranian government entirely responsible for Jahanbegloo's well-being."
Questioned by reporters in Ottawa, Mr. MacKay would not say much about the case for fear it could jeopardize Mr. Jahanbegloo's safety.
"Upon hearing of a Canadian-Iranian who was detained in Tehran, who as you know was a known academic professor, we made contact with Iranian officials in Tehran through our official functions," he said. "We similarly made contact here in Canada with the Iranian consul."
Toronto-area Liberal MP Bryon Wilfert -- who said he does not want to see a repeat of the Kazemi case -- said yesterday he has written a letter to the Foreign Affairs Department seeking clarification of the government's efforts.
"The government seems to be silent on this issue and we need to take action now to protect the rights of Canadians abroad," he said. "Iran is a country that is fighting for rights and freedom, it is important that we protect the rights and freedom of our own."
Mr. Ignatieff said it was "fanciful" to suggest his old friend was a spy.
"He's a human-rights activist, a teacher and a scholar and everybody in this country who is a human-rights activist, a teacher and scholar should be watching this case with great concern. This is a man who loves freedom and he also loves his country, and if the Iranian regime has any sense they'll let him go forthwith."
Mr. Ignatieff, who said he visited with Mr. Jahanbegloo in Tehran last year, called his friend a voice of civility who had never taken part in any anti-Iranian activities.
Oliver Moore