Merzhad Zarei moved quickly among the crowd waiting to meet Justin Trudeau at an outdoor food truck festival in northern Toronto, hoping to draw the attention of the Liberal Party leader.
“Mr. Trudeau, Mr. Trudeau,” he shouted from behind the mask when the current prime minister turned his head.
“You promised!”
Trudeau is about to end the second week of this campaign on Election Day on September 20, and he promised what the re-elected Liberal government will do.
Zarei reminded Trudeau of another promise there, which was made a few months after the 2019 election.
Ontario court ruled that Iran’s shooting down of Flight 752 was a deliberate act of terrorism
Zarei’s 18-year-old son, Arad, was shot down after taking off from Tehran a few minutes after taking Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 on January 8, 2020.
A few days later, Zary and other family members of the victim met with Trudeau to discuss the road ahead.
Zarei recalled that Trudeau promised the answers to the family, was accountable to the relevant personnel, and finally brought justice to their loved ones.
After the shooting down, Iran immediately denied responsibility for it, but three days later admitted that its paramilitary Revolutionary Guards mistakenly hit the Ukrainian jet with two surface-to-air missiles.
All 176 people on board were killed, including 55 Canadian citizens and 30 permanent residents.
The initial report issued by the Iranian authorities pointed out that an air defense operator mistook the Boeing 737-800 for a US cruise missile, but the final report of the Iranian Civil Aviation Agency attributed the blame to “human error”, but no one was responsible for it.
Zarei was one of the four plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed against Iran earlier this year, and a judge in Ontario allowed to proceed after deeming the shooting down to be a terrorist act.
On Friday, Zary asked Trudeau why Canada did not criminally prosecute members of the Iranian regime, despite the evidence against them, and why the government did not label the incident as an act of terrorism.
“He promised me to seek justice for my family,” Zare said after the meeting. “He promised me, it’s the same as before.”
Trudeau listened to unfulfilled promises during the campaign, and he is making new promises to voters. In the animation, Zare emphasized his point of view.
Finally, Trudeau stretched out his hand to hug Zare, spoke in his ear, and promised again that he would do everything possible to get justice for the victim. When the Liberal Party leader attacked, he was among the crowd of security guards, reporters and bystanders. Do this in a small pocket.
“I now hear him from the bottom of his heart wanting to get justice for his family,” Zary said afterwards, wearing a small button on his chest with his son’s face and name written on it.
“That’s why I keep calling. I believe that he (thinks) he will do justice to the people.”
© 2021 Canadian Press
