For Immediate Release
Toronto, July 10, 2000… B'nai Brith Canada leaders will be intensifying their efforts to gain visas to Iran in order to monitor the appeals hearings for 10 Iranian Jews recently convicted of "espionage". Earlier applications to attend the trial were denied and numerous telephone calls to the Iranian Embassy to ascertain the reason for this summary refusal have not been returned.
As Jewish communities across the world gather for a day of solidarity with the 10 Iranian Jews recently convicted on charges of "espionage", B'nai Brith Canada's Institute for International Affairs has organized a campaign of information, protest and prayer across the country.
B'nai Brith Canada is participating today in noon-time community-wide rallies outside the Iranian Embassy in Ottawa and the old City Hall Court House in Toronto, while information blitzes will be held outside the Montreal Court House and the Calgary City Hall, as well as centres in Winnipeg and Saskatoon. A petition of protest will be circulated at these events and will also be available on the B'nai Brith Canada website at http://www.bnaibrith.ca/institute/docs/iran/iranpet2.html.
Ever since the arrests, B'nai Brith Canada has been consulting with the Department of Foreign Affairs, other human rights organizations and international contacts to determine the best strategy to follow in light of the harsh and unjust sentences announced last week in Shiraz. The entire human rights community has been outraged at the blatant lack of judicial process in the proceedings and the refusal of the Iranian authorities to allow independent observers to monitor the trial.
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