The outlook for release of Montreal anthropologist Homa Hoodfar from Iran’s Evin prison darkened Tuesday with news that a hard-line judge has dismissed her lawyer and chosen another to represent her without her consent. “This seems to be standard procedure for this judge, who has been violating many laws,” said Hoodfar’s niece, Amanda Ghahremani, speaking from Montreal. “He’s denied access to her lawyers, her family, she is in solitary confinement and has not been moved to a general ward. The exact charges against the 65-year-old retired Concordia University professor are unknown, nor has a trial date been announced. She is believed to be accused of “collaborating with a hostile government, propaganda against the state, and ‘dabbling in feminism.’” Hoodfar is widely known for her work on gender and sexuality in Islam.

Source: thestar September 13, 2016 21:00 UTC