Iran judiciary refuses to return remains of Canadian reporter News
Iran judiciary refuses to return remains of Canadian reporter

[JURIST] Iran's judiciary [official website] Tuesday rejected Canada's demands that the remains of a Iranian-Canadian photographer who died in detention in Tehran be returned to Canada. Officials in Ottawa demanded last week that Iran return the body of Zahra Kazemi [CBC backgrounder], who died in custody in July 2003, so that an autopsy could be performed to investigate allegations of rape [JURIST report]. Iran's judiciary rejected the request stating that Kazemi "was an Iranian citizen and having a Canadian citizenship does not exclude her case from being dealt with by the Iranian courts." The laws of Iran do not recognize dual nationality. However, the case will be reviewed by an appeal court in Tehran, with lawyers to present their claims on May 20. Last Sunday, Nobel peace prize winner Shirin Ebadi [official profile], who is representing Kazemi's mother, asked the head of Iran's judiciary to appoint a special judge to investigate the circumstances of Kazemi's death. Kazemi died 10 days after being arrested for photographing a demonstration outside a Tehran prison. AFP has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Pope Urban II sparks First Crusade

Pope Urban II threw his support behind what would become the First Crusade on November 27, 1095 during the Council of Clairmont. The Pope urged the council's participants to render aid to the Byzantine Empire, which was being attacked by the Seljuks. Pope Urban called for a wide coalition of rich and poor to combat the threat, which eventually resulted in the conquest of much of the Muslim-controlled Levant by the Crusaders and the establishment of the Crusader States. Read Pope Urban's address.  

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