Iran court hears appeal over photographer murder

AFP: An Iranian court was hearing an appeal Monday over the murder in custody two years ago of Iranian-Canadian photographer Zahra Kazemi, following the acquittal of an intelligence agent in the case. The foreign media was not admitted to the tiny Tehran courtoom where the case was being heard, with one official declaring “there is no room.” AFP

TEHRAN – An Iranian court was hearing an appeal Monday over the murder in custody two years ago of Iranian-Canadian photographer Zahra Kazemi, following the acquittal of an intelligence agent in the case.

The foreign media was not admitted to the tiny Tehran courtoom where the case was being heard, with one official declaring “there is no room.”

Kazemi, 54 died in Tehran in July 2003 following her arrest the previous month for taking photographs in front of Tehran prison. While in custody, she sustained serious head injuries.

Iranian authorities first said Kazemi died of a stroke, then admitted she had been beaten, but then suggested she may have simply fallen over.

In July last year, a Tehran court acquitted an intelligence agent accused of giving the journalist a mortal blow to the head.

The Kazemi family’s lawyers have accused the judiciary of a cover-up, a view shared by Canada.

In May, Canadian Foreign Minister Pierre Pettigrew announced that Ottawa had decided to “constrain” its ties with Tehran until Iranian authorities handled the case “in a serious and credible manner.”