Dr. Donald Payne likes out-of-the-way places. Last November, the 75 year-old psychiatrist left the Beach for a trip to Myanmar. He went to Iceland in July. Payne got his start as one of four doctors at a hospital in Baie Verte, Newfoundland – then a fishing village that had just boomed thanks to an asbestos […]
Tag: Amnesty International
Hamid Ghassemi-Shall to speak at Beaches Write for Rights
Belle Smith writes dozens of letters a year to help victims of human-rights abuse. “There are so many horrible things — man’s inhumanity to man is just unbelievable,” said Smith, who volunteers with the Beaches chapter of Amnesty International. “But you’re hoping the more people who write letters, the more it will urge politicians or […]
Hamid takes freedom seriously
Leaning on a rake, Hamid Ghassemi-Shall looks over his backyard and the blanket of wet leaves that waits for him. It’s the last day of November, just nine weeks since Ghassemi-Shall was freed from Iran’s Evin Prison and allowed to rejoin his wife in Toronto. “It’s my turn,” he says, looking at the leaves with […]
Hamid released after five years in Iranian prison
“Waiting for you Hamid,” says a sign on the front yard at Antonella Mega’s home in the Beach. Her husband, Hamid Ghassemi-Shall, was released Sept. 23 after five years and four months as a political prisoner in Iran. If all goes well, Mega can soon put up a sign that says “Welcome home.” Mega said […]
Hamid still needs your help
Hamid Ghassemi-Shall, a Canadian citizen and Beach resident of Iranian descent, has been in prison in Tehran, Iran, since 2008. He was arrested, along with his brother Alborz, on charges of espionage while in Iran visiting his sick mother. Alborz later died of cancer while in jail. Ghassemi-Shall’s wife, Antonella Mega, has led an unwavering […]
