Academics call for Concordia prof Homa Hoodfar's immediate release

Academics from Ireland and Canada are calling for the immediate release of Homa Hoodfar from an Iranian jail, where she has been held since herJune 6 arrest in Tehran.

Kimberley Manning, principal of Concordia University's Simone de Beauvoir Institute, says there is growing concern within the academic community about Hoodfar'sdetention and deteriorating health.

She described the Concordiaanthropology professor's situation as"life or death" and called on the Canadian and Iranian governments to do everything in their power to bring her home.

"This is an emergency," she said. "Right now, we don't even know whether Dr. Hoodfar is still alive."

• Canadian prof Homa Hoodfar, jailed in Iran, falls ill in solitary confinement

More than 5,000 academics have signed a petition callingfor Hoodfar's release, including notable intellectuals such asNoam Chomsky, she said.

Iranian authorities have charged Hoodfar, who is65 and a citizenof Canada,Ireland and Iran,with collaborating with a hostile government against national security and with propaganda against the state charges her family calls trumpedup.

Ireland an option?

Manning took part in a news conference Wednesday in Montreal, while colleagues in Irelandheld a rally in Dublinon Wednesday morning.

After staying quietthrough the summer in the hopes the issue could be resolved through legal and diplomatic channels, the group of academicsdecided to speak out because of her deteriorating health.

• Canada closes embassy in Iran, expels Iranian diplomats

Because Canada doesn't have direct diplomatic ties with Iran, her supporters believe Ireland may be in a better position to negotiate.

"Ireland has quite a good diplomatic relationship with Iran, and we're really hopingthat the Irish government will do all it can to secure Homa's release," said Emer O'Toole, a professor of Canadian Irish Studies at Concordia.

Colleagues commendHoodfar's'resilience'

Hoodfarsuffers from a rare neurological disease calledmyastheniagravis, which causes severe muscle weakness.

MarcLafrance, a sociology and anthropology professor atConcordia, said her friends are in "awe of her resilience in such inhumane conditions."

LafrancecalledHoodfar"abalanced, even-minded scholar of the Muslim world."

Her friends and colleagues aretormented by questions aboutHoodfar'swell-being in prison, for instance,if she's getting enough food and water or is being allowed to gooutside, Lafrance said.

"But these questions almost always lead us to deeper and darker ones," he said.

"Is she being given her medication? Will officials see to it that she is not allowed to die in their custody?"

Hoodfar, an anthropologistatConcordia University whowrites frequently on sexuality and gender in Islam, is being keptinsolitary confinement, according to her niece, AmandaGhahremani.

Hoodfar's family says Iranian authorities have refused regular visits by her lawyerand have tried to dismiss him.

• ANALYSIS |HomaHoodfar hostage, not criminal