A senior member of the Iranian regime living in Canada has lost a bid to ban the public from his deportation hearing.
In a ruling issued in Toronto on Tuesday, the Immigration and Refugee Board denied Abbas Omidi’s request for closed-door proceedings.
“Concealing Mr. Omidi’s identity would have a strong detrimental/negative impact on the public’s interest in open court proceedings,” the decision said.
Global News reported on Omidi’s case last month but was not permitted to name him due to a publication ban imposed by the Refugee Council.
However, Global News fought the decision, and the Refugee Council has now overturned the sanctions in a ruling saying Omidi had not shown he would face any danger.
“I am unable to find sufficient credible evidence to establish that Mr. Omidi and his family would be in real and substantial danger if Mr. Omidi’s identity were revealed in a media report,” the decision said.
“I do not find that Mr. Omidi’s application meets the requirement that the openness of the trial poses a serious threat to an important public interest.”
Omidi was one of 28 suspected high-level officials of Iran’s repressive government caught during the immigration crackdown that began in 2022.
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He is the latest to be publicly recognized.
The Canada Border Services Agency wants to deport him on the grounds that he served in a senior capacity in his country’s Islamic regime.
He attended the deportation hearing on February 4, but the Refugee Council argued that the hearing should be held behind closed doors.
To support his bid for a closed hearing, he submitted news articles including the recent disappearance of BC anti-governance activist Masood Masjoodi.
But the Refugee Council said the demonstrations “did not provide credible evidence of a real and substantial risk”.
The decision noted that a letter submitted by Iranian Canadian legal professionals argued that “Iranian Canadians will be particularly affected by the non-disclosure of Mr. Omidi’s name.”
“For Iranian Canadians who have fled persecution by the Iranian regime, it is not a matter of curiosity to know who among them in their community are high-ranking officials of the regime,” it said.
“I find that this information has a significant impact on their personal security, as there are risks to physical and emotional safety in associating with people directly related to their own persecution.”
The Canadian government barred senior Iranian officials from the country as Tehran cracked down on women’s rights protests that erupted over the killing of Mahsa Amini, who was arrested for showing her hair.
The sanctions took on new urgency after regime forces brutally suppressed anti-government protests that began in December, killing thousands.
It is unclear what impact the war on Iran, which began on February 28, might have on Ottawa’s efforts to expel former and current members of the administration, who critics say are using Canada as a safe haven.
Even before the war began, immigration enforcement officials were struggling to persuade the Refugee Council to remove officers from Canada.
The IRB allowed the five accused officials to remain in Canada, only one was deported and the others are in the queue for trial.
Most of the officers have heard their hearings in secret. Only five deportation cases, including Omidi’s, are public.
Stewart.Bell@globalnews.ca
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