North Shore journalist being held in Iran
North Vancouver-bred journalist Dorothy Parvaz has been deported to Iran, according to reports from Al Jazeera.
Parvaz, a Handsworth secondary school graduate, had been held in Syria since April 29. Parvaz, who works for Al Jazeera, was detained upon her arrival in Damascus. Syrian officials says she was attempting to enter the country on an expired Iranian visa. Parvaz has Canadian, Iranian and American citizenships.
Journalists and politicians across the globe are calling for her release and numerous “Free Dorothy” campaigns have sprung up across the Internet.
Andrew Saxton, MP for North Vancouver, told The Outlook his office continues to work on her release. NDP MP Libby Davies has written an open letter to Prime Minister Stephen Harper about Parvaz, while the University of British Columbia school of journalism has also called for her release.
“I didn’t know she was going. She’s written many stories on countries in conflict, but had I known I would have been very nervous for sure. We are gravely concerned for her,” her father Fred Parvaz, a physics professor, at Cap U told The Outlook.
“We are relying on the press to continue helping. Journalists all over the world consider her one of their own. The stories they are telling are keeping this alive.”
Updates of Dorothy’s story are posted on Twitter with the hashtag #FreeDororthy. Her parents have set up a Facebook page www.facebook.com/FreeDorothy.
skolenko@northshoreoutlook.com
twitter.com/seankolenko
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