Homa Hoodfar, a Concordia University professor, was first arrested in March and then taken to Iran's infamous Evin Prison earlier this week. We see a sandy-haired lady dressed in a stylishly academic fashion (a two-toned blue scarf wrapped about her neck over dark blue jacket) looking directly with clear eyes at the camera. Behind her are the bookshelves of a library.

Homa Hoodfar, a Concordia University professor, was first arrested in March and then taken to Iran's infamous Evin Prison earlier this week.
Photo Credit: CP/HO/Concordia University

Homa Hoodfar, a Montreal professor, being held in Iran

Fears are growing about the fate of Homa Hoodfar, a renowned anthropologist and professor at Montreal’s Concordia University.

Hoodfar, who is 65 and suffers from a neurological illness, was arrested in Iran in March by Iranian Revolutionary Guards and accused of “co-operating with a foreign state against the Islamic Republic of Iran.”

After posting bond, she was ordered to remain in the country but was not permitted to contact her family or lawyers.

Last weekend, she was taken to Tehran’s infamous Evin Prison, where she is being held incommunicado.

It is unclear if she has been charged, but her family says she has not been allowed to take her medication.

Foreign Affairs Minister Stephane Dion says he and his parliamentary secretary for consular affairs have met a member of Hoodfar’s family.

A spokesperson for Mr. Dion says Foreign Affairs considers the case “a priority.”

Canada has no embassy in Iran and Foreign Affairs says it is working with (unnamed) allies to secure her release.

Hoodfar, who holds both Canadian and Iranian passports, is a world expert on sexuality and gender in Islam and has written papers and books on the subject.

Her arrest evokes echoes of the case of Zahra Kazemi, a Canadian-Iranian freelance photographer who was killed in Evin Prison in 2003.

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