The family of an Iranian-Canadian student killed when Iran shot down a Ukrainian passenger plane is pleading with the Canadian government for help in obtaining his remains, which they say are being held by Iran’s government.
A relative of Amir Hossein Saeedinia claims the family is being intimidated by Iranian officials for speaking to the media and that Iran is refusing to release his body.
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1:30 Trudeau on Flight 752’s victims: They would be “home with their families”
“One week has elapsed and no news,” the relative said in an interview with Masih Alinejad, an Iranian journalist. Audio of the interview was provided to Global News. “Nothing can relieve this grieving [family] apart from help.”
“We just want Canada to help us,” said the relative, who Global News is not identifying over safety concerns.
“All we had is gone now. Can they at least give us his dead body?”
Saeedinia, 26, was scheduled to begin his PhD in mechanical engineering at the University of Alberta, according to the school. He was among the 176 passengers and crew on board Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 when it was shot down by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard.
Amir Hossein Saeedinia was just beginning his PhD studies at the U of A’s Centre for Design of Advanced Materials.
Credit / U of A Centre for Design of Advanced Materials
For three days Iran repeatedly denied allegations that a missile had brought down the plane, but in the face of growing evidence, officials admitted Saturday that its Revolutionary Guard had shot down the plane by mistake amid heightened military tensions with the United States.
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Of the 176 passengers, 138 were headed for Canada, but it’s unclear how many were permanent residents or travelling on student visas.
Canada has said 57 of the victims were Canadian citizens.
Alinejad, who also works as a women’s rights campaigner in Iran, told Global News she has spoken with several families that aren’t able to recover the remains of loved ones.
“All of them are telling that security forces went to their house and warned them, ‘If you give any interviews to journalists or media, then we won’t give the bodies of your beloved ones back,’” she said.
5:23 Trudeau wants compensation, justice for Canadians on Flight 752
Trudeau wants compensation, justice for Canadians on Flight 752
In Iran, a majority-Muslim country, it’s customary for remains to be buried immediately after death. Officials have said the process to identify loved ones will be difficult due to the nature of the crash and will require DNA or dental records.
Alinejad said the families are looking for assistance from the Canadian government to help recover the remains so they can either be brought home to Canada or buried in Iran. She posted a video Monday on social media of a mother of an Iranian-Canadian killed in the downed flight and called on Canada for help.
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“The heartbreaking part of this is that these families left Iran because they want to be safe in Canada and now they have been killed by the Islamic Republic,” she said. “They also don’t have any safety in Iran to have public [memorials] or do interviews and tell the stories of their children.”
The repatriation process could also be complicated by the fact that Iran does not recognize dual citizenship and Iranian authorities may not allow the bodies to be returned home, according to Alinejad.
“It’s horrible,” she said.
“When you talk to many families, all this pain goes to your heart and my heart is broken.”
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Foreign Affairs Minister François-Philippe Champagne did not immediately respond to questions from Global News.
In a statement posted to Twitter, Champagne called the allegations of harassment “disturbing” and said his office is looking into the matter.
Thank you for bringing this to our attention. These allegations are disturbing and we will look into them. Please have this family reach out to Canadian officials by calling 613-996-8885 or emailing sos@international.gc.ca. https://t.co/lCB7UWlWrZ
— François-Philippe Champagne (FPC) ?? (@FP_Champagne) January 13, 2020
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Global Affairs confirmed that Canadian investigators are getting their first chance to visit the crash site outside of Tehran on Tuesday as part of an international team looking into the downed jet.
“We are also committed to working with international partners to ensure a thorough and credible investigation into how such a horrific tragedy could have occurred,” Champagne said in a statement.
“Prime Minister Trudeau has spoken with Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani directly and clearly stated that Canada expects and demands full cooperation from Iranian authorities in all respects of access, repatriation and investigation.”
Global Affairs said in a statement that consular officials are now on the ground in Tehran and families can reach the Standing Rapid Deployment Team (SRDT) in Iran at +98 905 778 9710 or by email at sos@international.gc.ca.
— François-Philippe Champagne (FPC) ?? (@FP_Champagne) January 13, 2020
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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told Global News in an exclusive interview that if there had been no military escalation between Iran and the U.S., “those Canadians would be right now home with their families.”
“This is something that happens when you have conflict and war,” Trudeau said. ”Innocents bear the brunt of it and it is a reminder why all of us need to work so hard on de-escalation, moving forward to reduce tensions and find a pathway that doesn’t involve further conflict and killing.”
Trudeau’s comments come ahead of a meeting Thursday being hosted by Canada in London, U.K., in which officials from Ukraine, Sweden, Afghanistan and the United Kingdom are set to lay out their next steps for pushing for credible answers from Iran and access to black box data.
“Families have very tangible questions like, ‘When can we bring our loved ones home to Canada? How am I going to pay my mortgage? How am I going to get the supports I need, because I can’t go back to work because I just lost my wife and child and I am completely lost,’” Trudeau said.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A linebacker at Division II West Virginia State was fatally shot during what the university said Thursday is being investigated by police as a home invasion.
The body of Jyilek Zyiare Harrington, 21, of Charlotte, North Carolina, was found inside an apartment Wednesday night in Charleston, police Lt. Tony Hazelett said in a statement.
Hazelett said several gunshots were fired during a disturbance in a hallway and inside the apartment. The statement said Harrington had multiple gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead at the scene. Police said they had no information on a possible suspect.
West Virginia State said counselors were available to students and faculty on campus.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with Jyilek’s family as they mourn the loss of this incredible young man,” West Virginia State President Ericke S. Cage said in a letter to students and faculty.
Harrington, a senior, had eight total tackles, including a sack, in a 27-24 win at Barton College last week.
“Jyilek truly embodied what it means to be a student-athlete and was a leader not only on campus but in the community,” West Virginia State Vice President of Intercollegiate Athletics Nate Burton said. “Jyilek was a young man that, during Christmas, would create a GoFundMe to help less fortunate families.”
Burton said donations to a fund established by the athletic department in Harrington’s memory will be distributed to an organization in Charlotte to continue his charity work.
West Virginia State’s home opener against Carson-Newman, originally scheduled for Thursday night, has been rescheduled to Friday, and a private vigil involving both teams was set for Thursday night. Harrington previously attended Carson-Newman, where he made seven tackles in six games last season. He began his college career at Division II Erskine College.
“Carson-Newman joins West Virginia State in mourning the untimely passing of former student-athlete Jyilek Harrington,” Carson-Newman Vice President of Athletics Matt Pope said in a statement. “The Harrington family and the Yellow Jackets’ campus community is in our prayers. News like this is sad to hear anytime, but today it feels worse with two teams who knew him coming together to play.”
DETROIT (AP) — Joe Schmidt, the Hall of Fame linebacker who helped the Detroit Lions win NFL championships in 1953 and 1957 and later coached the team, has died. He was 92.
The Lions said family informed the team Schmidt died Wednesday. A cause of death was not provided.
One of pro football’s first great middle linebackers, Schmidt played his entire NFL career with the Lions from 1953-65. An eight-time All-Pro, he was enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1973 and the college football version in 2000.
“Joe likes to say that at one point in his career, he was 6-3, but he had tackled so many fullbacks that it drove his neck into his shoulders and now he is 6-foot,” said the late Lions owner William Clay Ford, Schmidt’s presenter at his Hall of Fame induction in 1973. “At any rate, he was listed at 6-feet and as I say was marginal for that position. There are, however, qualities that certainly scouts or anybody who is drafting a ballplayer cannot measure.”
Born in Pittsburgh, Schmidt played college football in his hometown at Pitt, beginning his stint there as a fullback and guard before coach Len Casanova switched him to linebacker.
“Pitt provided me with the opportunity to do what I’ve wanted to do, and further myself through my athletic abilities,” Schmidt said. “Everything I have stemmed from that opportunity.”
Schmidt dealt with injuries throughout his college career and was drafted by the Lions in the seventh round in 1953. As defenses evolved in that era, Schmidt’s speed, savvy and tackling ability made him a valuable part of some of the franchise’s greatest teams.
Schmidt was elected to the Pro Bowl 10 straight years from 1955-64, and after his arrival, the Lions won the last two of their three NFL titles in the 1950s.
In a 1957 playoff game at San Francisco, the Lions trailed 27-7 in the third quarter before rallying to win 31-27. That was the NFL’s largest comeback in postseason history until Buffalo rallied from a 32-point deficit to beat Houston in 1993.
“We just decided to go after them, blitz them almost every down,” Schmidt recalled. “We had nothing to lose. When you’re up against it, you let both barrels fly.”
Schmidt became an assistant coach after wrapping up his career as a player. He was Detroit’s head coach from 1967-72, going 43-35-7.
Schmidt was part of the NFL’s All-Time Team revealed in 2019 to celebrate the league’s centennial season. Of course, he’d gone into the Hall of Fame 46 years earlier.
Not bad for an undersized seventh-round draft pick.
“It was a dream of mine to play football,” Schmidt told the Detroit Free Press in 2017. “I had so many people tell me that I was too small. That I couldn’t play. I had so many negative people say negative things about me … that it makes you feel good inside. I said, ‘OK, I’ll prove it to you.’”
VICTORIA – British Columbia’s Environment Assessment Office has fined Coastal GasLink Pipeline Ltd. $590,000 for “deficiencies” in the construction of its pipeline crossing the province.
The office says in a statement that 10 administrative penalties have been levied against the company for non-compliance with requirements of its environmental assessment certificate.
It says the fines come after problems with erosion and sediment control measures were identified by enforcement officers along the pipeline route across northern B.C. in April and May 2023.
The office says that the latest financial penalties reflect its escalation of enforcement due to repeated non-compliance of its requirements.
Four previous penalties have been issued for failing to control erosion and sediment valued at almost $800,000, while a fifth fine of $6,000 was handed out for providing false or misleading information.
The office says it prioritized its inspections along the 670-kilometre route by air and ground as a result of the continued concerns, leading to 59 warnings and 13 stop-work orders along the pipeline that has now been completed.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
