Canada PoliticsNazanin Afshin-Jam vents on Facebook at being called the ‘defence minister’s wife’
Human rights activist Nazanin Afshin-Jam, who happens to be the wife of defence minister Peter MacKay, has a beef with the media.
On Wednesday, Afshin-Jam made national headlines after an interview with The Guardian newspaper where she said that Omar Kadhr should be repatriated from Guantanamo Bay immediately. Kadhr, a Canadian citizen, has been a prisoner at Guantanamo since 2002 for throwing a grenade in Afghanistan that killed a U.S. soldier.
According to reports, the Harper government is dragging its feet on the repatriation, so when the wife of a high-profile cabinet minister comments, it should be news — right?
[ Related: Defence minister's wife opposed to Canadian troops in Iran ]
Afshin-Jam, doesn't think so.
In a Facebook post Wednesday evening, she took exception to the tact of the 'The Guardian reporter and especially to his headline: "Time to bring Khadr home: defence minister's wife"
Here's her post:
"This afternoon while here in PEI I was asked to come to the Guardian offices to sit down and do an interview about my new book The Tale of Two Nazanins; but instead the journalist Jim Day did not ask me a single question about the book and made an obvious effort to draw me into a discussion criticising the government. When responding I specifically qualified that what I said was my personal view. I am very disappointed that once again my personal view has been distorted. After I expressly and emphatically told him numerous times that I was tired seeing my name continually left out of interviews and referred to as "The Defence Minister's wife"...this is exactly what he chose to do. As a result of today's experience I am extremely disappointed with the Guardian and I will think twice before speaking to them again. I am confident that Mr. Khadr will be transferred back to Canada. Let's leave it to the Canadian and US governments who have all the facts and details about the case to take the proper actions in due course.
Signed,
Nazanin Afshin-Jam MacKay
International Human Rights Activist
President and Co-Founder of Stop Child Executions"
In response to the defence minister's wife, err...Nazanin's post, Ottawa Citizen reporter Glen McGregor tweeted this:
Does Nazanin Afshin-Jam believe newspapers would be soliciting her opinions so often were she not MacKay's wife?on.fb.me/Q8RKWy
— Glen McGregor (@glen_mcgregor) July 26, 2012
Perhaps an appropriate question?
[ Related: Peter MacKay's Iranian-born wife shocked TD closing Iranian Canadians' accounts ]
