13 years passed!
Some days, a certain memory will come to mind and won’t let go no matter what you do or where you go. Yesterday was one of those days for me; walking around with vivid memories about an autumn day in 2014!
©Photo courtesy of Stephen Kazemi
I was anxiously waiting for the morning to come with hopes that Canada, or it is better to say Canada’s justice system, will not fail me.
That night, I slept less than couple of hours. I got out of my bed around 5:30am even though my meeting with Ziba and Stephan’s lawyers, at their downtown Montreal office, was at 9:30. I couldn’t stay home and wait any longer. As soon as I was ready, I headed out. It was too early to head to my meeting so I decided to walk all the way downtown instead of taking public transportation.
It was a bright beautiful autumn day; October 16th 2014. The Supreme Court of Canada scheduled to announce its final verdict about the civil lawsuit Stephan Kazemi launched against the Islamic Republic of Iran on June 29th 2006.
Eight years of legal battles led to this moment when everything is in the hands of 7 Supreme Court judges!
I still vividly remember the day I took the train to Ottawa on December 4th 2013 to witness the lawyers for the last time stand in front of the Supreme Court on behalf of Ziba, Stephan and in my mind, on behalf of all of us who have been betrayed by the Islamic Republic of Iran!
My hopes grew bigger and bigger that day while listening to our lawyers’ brilliant statement about why the Supreme Court of Canada must give a verdict in favor of justice for Ziba and her only child Stephan.
However, on that bright autumn morning, sitting on the 10-floor law firm conference room with the wonderful team of lawyers, we learned that the seven experienced judges consciously refused to act in favor of justice and dismissed Stephan’s lawsuit and let yet another murder go without any consequences!
I was deeply disappointed; we were all!
Tears started pouring down my face uncontrollably and I couldn’t find a single word to express myself. I just sat there and cried!
That bright autumn day was one of the saddest days of my life!
©Shahrzad Arshadi
It was exactly 13 years ago, on July 8th 2003, when for the first time, I heard Ziba’s name on Montreal radio early morning news! “Zahra Kazemi, a photojournalist, Montrealer originally form Iran, has been arrested in front of Even prison and is now in a coma at the Baghiyyatollah al-Azam Military Hospital.”
That early morning was the beginning of a strange but very deep friendship between Ziba and I; a woman that I have never met while she was alive but got to know every little detail of her life through all of her notes, diaries and letters to her loved ones! Ziba, a beautiful spirit has been fallowing me since!
Ziba Kazemi was arrested on June 23rd 2003 but it was two weeks later when her son, who was in Montreal, had been informed of her arrest. I believe it was about at the same time when Ziba’s parents had been informed in Shiraz!
At the beginning, I thought Ziba was alone at the time of her arrest, and for that reason it took two weeks for her son to know about his mother’s imprisonment!
I was wrong. Her friends in Tehran knew about her arrest and one of them was with her at the time of her arrest in front of Evin prison but chose to stay quiet. The officials of the regime told the person to not say anything and that they would just keep Ziba for few days and release her!
How could anybody trust those murderers? I still can’t understand that! Learning about this specific piece of information was so deeply disappointing to me! I still can’t stop wondering that if the news about Ziba’s arrest would come out right away, maybe now there would be no need for me to write about Ziba and her case. If we knew earlier, maybe Ziba would be here in Montreal or somewhere in the world busy taking pictures. Who knows? I still wonder!
All these years, I never revealed this information since I never wanted to point fingers at anybody. To me, it is the Islamic Republic of Iran to blame for all the murders and crime that have been committed for the past 37 years.
However, at the same time, I believe that as a member of humanity, we all have to take responsibility. We are responsible if we close our eyes, we block our ears and we shut our mouths!
In the past month, after hearing about Homa Hoodfar, a Concordia University professor who was arrested and held in Evin prison and feeling the silence around her case, brought me back to the two specific weeks of silence after Ziba Kazmei’s arrest. Two weeks in the hands of the same regime who killed thousands and now captured the 65-year-old Concordia university professor.
Again, a huge question comes to mind. How many Iranians inside and outside of the country can trust Homa Hoodfar’s life in the hands of the Iranian regime? How can we trust the Canadian government to save her; a government who stands side by side of the Iranian regime in the Canadian court against Ziba and her son’s civil lawsuit!
How can anybody trust these two governments to save Homa Hoodfar’s life behind close doors? Why is her family, specifically outside of Iran, insisting so much on resolving her issue through unknown and unclear sources?
With disbelieve, I read Mr. Stephan Dion’s comment concerning Ms. Hoodfar’s situation about the challenges they are facing in regards to this case. He said: “It would be easier to have an embassy in Iran.”
Are you serious Mr. Dion, for real? You don’t remember in 2003, the Liberal government had an embassy in Iran and they didn’t even help Stephan Kazemi bring his mother’s body back to Canada! Do politicians believe we have amnesia or it is that they suffer from deep amnesia!
Ms. Hoodfar’s family must know that every day and every moment counts! Being silent will get her closer and closer to an unfortunate fate!
Homa Hoodfar was very cautious about every step she took related to Iran and its government. She thought by doing so, she could be safe from the hands of the totalitarian regime. Unfortunately, the Iranian government proved her wrong.
The same mistakes are being made with handling her case. With fear and caution, her family constantly tries to assure the world and the regime that she wasn’t an activist or political as if being activist automatically makes her guilty and a criminal!
Does that mean that all the thousands and thousands that have been killed after the 1979 revolution were guilty?
Let’s not allow fear dictate the way we live our lives!
I like to end here with a few words from Stephan Kazemi’s article in the Toronto Star about his mother two years ago: “Ziba wanted to appeal to the human conscience. She has become a symbol of integrity, compassion and continuity. Never will the barbarism that killed her erase her humanity, nor will Harper’s (I will replace Harper with Canada’s justice system) refusal to allow that justice be done. Never will her memory go away. “
I remember you Ziba!
With love and admiration,
Shahrzad Arsahdi
Saturday July 10, 2016
Shahrzad Arshadi شهرزاد ارشدى 