(June 26, 2016) LUFA has contributed $1,000 to the defence fund of the Concordia University Faculty Association in support of Homa Hoodfar, a Canadian academic who is under detention in Iran. Letters of concern have also been written to prime minister Justin Trudeau, foreign affairs’ minister Stéphane Dion, and Iranian president Hassan Rouhani.

Dr. Hoodfar, who recently retired from Concordia University, has apparently been charged by Iranian authorities with sedition. She has been subjected to lengthy and repeated interrogations, her passport has been seized, and her personal belongings confiscated. Since June 14, she has been held incommunicado at Tehran’s notorious Evin prison.

Dr. Hoodfar is a respected member of the academic community. Her research investigates issues ranging from household and family relations to the challenges facing women in Middle Eastern societies, including in Iran. No evidence has been presented that Dr. Hoodfar’s research on the recent Iranian election, where 17 women were elected, has been subversive.

LUFA strongly supports the stands taken by Amnesty International, which considers Dr. Hoodfar to be a prisoner of conscience, and the Canadian Association of University Teachers.