Winnipeg memorial site for Flight PS752 victims 'a powerful step' toward justice: family members
A memorial site featuring a stone wall with the names of 176 people onboard Flight PS752 was unveiled in south Winnipeg at Scurfield Park on Saturday. Fifty-five Canadian citizens were killed, including eight from Winnipeg's Iranian community.
Kourosh Doustshenas, president and founder of the Association of Families of Flight PS752 Victims, says it's the first memorial to be erected in honour of Flight PS752 victims anywhere in the world.
Doustshenas lost his fiancée, Dr. Forough Khadem, when Flight PS752 was shot down moments after takeoff from Tehran's international airport on Jan. 8, 2020. It was brought down by two Iranian surface-to-air missiles launched by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
"Still, every day, I live thinking about her, and everything I do is in her honour," Doustshenas told host Nadia Kidwai during a Saturday interview with CBC Radio's Weekend Morning Show. "She could have done so much more in the world, and it's been taken so soon."
Doustshenas says Scurfield Park was also chosen as the site for the new memorial because a family of three who were on Flight PS752 — Mohammad Mahdi Sadeghi, Bahareh Hajesfandiari and their daughter, Anisa Sadeghi — had lived across the street.
"We decided that's the right place to do it," Doustshenas said.
Liberal MP Terry Duguid, who represents Winnipeg South riding, said the tragedy "hit close to home," and he lived two blocks away from the Sadeghi and Hajesfandiari family.
"This is not abstract for us. We lost neighbours, we lost friends," Duguid said.
Duguid read a statement on behalf of Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand, offering condolences to the families and reiterating the federal government's commitment to challenging Iran at the International Court of Justice and the International Civil Aviation Organization.
"The path to justice is long, but justice will prevail and all of us will be there with you on that important journey," Duguid said.
Many family members at the memorial unveiling in Winnipeg on Saturday had travelled from Richmond Hill, Ont., which lost 44 community members on Flight PS752.
Richmond Hill Mayor David West said it was the largest mass loss of life in a single day in the city's history.
"Through this first memorial, we honour the past, we support the present, and we shape a more just future," West said during the ceremony, adding Richmond Hill is also working toward establishing a permanent memorial for the victims.
Azadeh Heidaripour flew in from Richmond Hill to honour the life of her 21-year-old son Amir Moradi, who was a student at Queen's University in Kingston, Ont.
"It's really hard to see your only child's name here," Heidaripour said.
"My life has two parts. One part before this tragedy, and one part after. I lost all my hope, I lost my future. I lost everything," she said.
She said she and her husband had been visiting Iran with Amir, but he flew back to Canada two days ahead of them.
Heidaripour said that she has bonded with other parents who lost their children on Flight PS752 and they are working together to demand answers and get justice for their loved ones.
"We need to find out what happened to our kids, why they are not here," she said.
Richmond Hill resident Hamed Esmaeilion, who is a board member with the Association of Families of Flight PS752 Victims, said he has lived through "2,000 days of pain" since his wife Parisa Eghbalian and nine-year-old daughter Reera Esmaeilion were killed onboard.
He said he has dedicated the rest of his life to keeping their legacy alive.
"We promised ourselves, we promised all these victims that we'll go to the end of this journey," Esmaeilion said.
Maral Gorginpour, who is also an association board member, lost her husband Fareed Arasteh just days after they were married. She flew in from Toronto to see his name etched into the memorial's stone.
"It was an emotional moment," Gorginpour said.
In a speech at the memorial unveiling, association president Doustshenas said the site will serve many needs for grieving community members, as "a place of reflection, of remembrance and of resistance."
He said that every day since he lost his fiancée has been filled with pain, but also a driving purpose to keep her memory alive and seek accountability from the Iranian regime.
"Let this place serve as a reminder that we will not rest until justice is done. We will not allow truth to be buried and we will never allow the memory of our loved ones to fade without seeking justice," Doustshenas said.
"The unveiling of this permanent memorial site here in Winnipeg is a powerful step in fulfilling that promise," he said.
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