Mr. Speaker, I rise today in regard to a petition signed by over 200 residents of North Vancouver and the surrounding area.
The signatories are asking the Government of Canada to call on the Iranian authorities to release Mohammad Ali Taheri, a prisoner of conscience who is to be tried for “spreading corruption on earth”, a charge that possibly carries the death penalty in Iran. The petitioners also ask that Mr. Taheri be protected from torture and ill treatment while he is wrongfully imprisoned.
I am pleased to rise in this House to make the petitioners' concerns about Mr. Taheri's situation known.