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Photo by The Canadian Press

So yes, it’s familiar. Still, you might not have heard much about this recent case, not because Iran is cracking down on widespread rebellion and it’s so hard to keep track of the number of innocent people disappearing into its torture rooms, although it is. But because our government has had very little to say about this Canadian killed in the custody of the Iranian regime.

Compare that embarrassing diffidence to 2003 and the years after. The governments of then prime ministers Jean Chrétien and Paul Martin protested loudly after Kazemi’s murder. They demanded access to the criminal trial of two of Kazemi’s captors charged in her death (both were acquitted). Canada’s ambassador to Tehran was recalled. There was never hope of getting justice from the vile tyrants of Tehran, but Canada at least took seriously the murder of one of its citizens by a hostile government.

Today, the family of Seyed-Emami has been essentially abandoned by this Liberal government. Sen. Linda Frum has been demanding the Liberals take action, but has gotten little response. Omar Alghabra, the parliamentary secretary for consular affairs, has expressed “concern” and asked Iran for information. Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland issued a statement saying “we are seriously concerned,” that we have “expressed our concerns” to Iran, and that she expects Iran “to provide

information and answers into the circumstances surrounding this tragedy.” But the minister surely knows that a regime that wantonly tortures and murders people isn’t going to be into transparency. These are scandalously weak responses.