Canada

A Canadian court has ordered the government of Iran to pay $200 million to a British Columbia mechanic who was branded an ‘infidel’ and tortured for criticizing the Islamic regime.

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The Ontario Superior Court of Justice awarded $100 million in compensation and another $100 million in punitive damages to Zahed Haftlang.

The court said Haftlang, an Iranian refugee who fled to Canada in 2001, merited the unusually large sum because of the “years of mistreatment” and “lifetime of mental trauma” he suffered.

Justice Lee Akazaki wrote that while a single judgment might not deter Iran’s abuses, the “accumulation of damage awards, often executed against Iran’s frozen foreign assets, has some effect.”

Although foreign governments are generally immune from Canada’s civil courts, Justice Akazaki ruled that Iran’s torture of Haftlang was motivated by the regime’s politics, religion and ideology.

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As a result, it amounted to “terrorist activity” akin to staging attacks on foreign soil intended to silence opposition to the regime, so Iran did not benefit from state immunity, the judge ruled.

“Iran is therefore liable to Mr. Haftlang and answerable to a civil judgment by this court for his loss caused by the acts committed against him,” according to the 13-page decision handed down on May 29.

The decision is the latest against Iran by a Canadian court under the Justice for Victims of Terrorism Act, which allows those impacted by terrorism to sue state sponsors of the groups that harmed them.

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It marked the first time a court in Canada had found that terrorist activity included Iran’s atrocities against its own citizens, and could potentially open the door for many more such lawsuits.

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