An alleged senior member of the Iranian regime who has been living in Canada has lost his try and ban the general public from his deportation hearing.
In a ruling handed down in Toronto on Tuesday, the Immigration and Refugee Board denied Abbas Omidi’s request for closed-door proceedings.
The choice said that “hiding Mr. Omidi’s identity would have a powerful deleterious/negative effect on the general public’s interest within the open court process.”
Global News reported on Omidi’s case last month but was not permitted to call him due to a publication ban imposed by the Refugee Board.
Nonetheless, Global News fought the choice, and the Refugee Board has now reversed the restrictions in a ruling that said Omidi had not shown he would face any danger.
“I’m unable to search out sufficient credible evidence that establishes Mr. Omidi and his family face an actual and substantial risk of harm if Mr. Omidi’s identity is disclosed in media reporting,” the choice said.
“I don’t find Mr. Omidi’s application satisfies the requirement that the openness of the proceedings poses a serious risk to a vital public interest.”
Omidi is one in every of 28 suspected high-level officials of Iran’s repressive government who’ve been caught during an immigration crackdown that began in 2022.
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He’s the most recent to be publicly identified.
The Canada Border Services Agency desires to expel him on the grounds that he served in a senior capability in his country’s Islamic regime.
He had appeared for a deportation hearing on Feb. 4, but as an alternative argued the Refugee Board should hold the proceedings behind closed doors.
To support his bid for a closed door hearing, he submitted news articles, including one in regards to the recent disappearance of B.C. anti-regime activist Masood Masjoody.
However the Refugee Board said the exhibits did “not provide credible evidence of a risk that’s real and substantial.”
The choice noted that a letter submitted by the Iranian Canadian Legal Professionals had argued that “Iranian Canadians can be particularly affected by non-disclosure of Mr. Omidi’s name.”
“For Iranian Canadians who fled persecution by the Iranian regime, the will to know who amongst them of their community were high rating officials of the regime isn’t a matter of curiosity,” it said.
“I find that this information has a major impact on their personal security, as there are inherent physical and emotional safety risks to associating with people directly linked to their very own persecution.”
The Canadian government barred senior Iranian officials from the country after Tehran crushed women’s rights protests that erupted over the killing of Mahsa Amini, who had been arrested for showing her hair.
The sanctions took on recent urgency after anti-government protests that began in December were brutally suppressed by regime forces, which killed 1000’s.
It was unclear what impact the war on Iran that began on Feb. 28 could have on Ottawa’s efforts to expel past and present regime members, who critics say have been using Canada as a refuge.
Even before the war began, immigration enforcement officers were struggling to influence the Refugee Board to remove the officials from Canada.
The IRB has allowed five of the alleged officials to remain in Canada, while just one has been deported, and others are within the queue for hearings.
Many of the officials have had their hearings heard in secrecy. Only five deportation cases have been public, including Omidi’s.
Stewart.Bell@globalnews.ca
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