Follow-up on Letter to the Prime Minister's Office

Well, following up on my letter to the Prime Minister's Office last week, seeking assistance for Hossein Derakhshan, the jailed Iranian-Canadian blogger who was arrested for basically speaking his mind in Iran and seeking to foster peace between Iran and Israel, I can advise:

a) I did get a letter from the PM's office advising that the matter has been referred to the Minister of Foreign Affairs for further attention;

b) I have not heard more;

c) Hossein Derakhshan is still in jail, without charge as I understand.

A quick google of "Hossein Derakhshan" discloses no news, and virtually no further attention since Iran's President Ahmadinejad publicly requested the judiciary assure a fair hearing to Derakhshan and jailed journalist, Roxana Saberi.

Sadly, while the Canadian left was and continues to be up in arms about assuring due process for Omar Khadr, alleged terrorist and murderer of an American Medic - it appears few in Canada, and virtually no one named Michael Ignatieff, has the time of day for a Canadian who made the mistake of seeking to use free expression to promote peace.

Not to leave out the right - while I have received a pleasant letter, it doesn't appear much more has happened in Government, and I certainly haven't seen anything from Ezra Levant or Mark Stein on this issue - I mean - if we, on the right, are truly worried about free speech, it would seem to me that Hossein Kerakhshan is a perfect example of why the suggested UN prohibition against "religious defamation" is such a frightening and inappropriate thing.