Irwin Cotler is a long-time human rights campaigner who has represented Iranian political prisoners in court
Canadian authorities have foiled what they called an Iranian plot to assassinate former justice minister Irwin Cotler, it was revealed on Monday.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police had informed the international chairman of the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights on October 26 of an imminent plot to kill him, reported The Globe and Mail.
According to sources, authorities knew of at least two people involved in the plan but it is not yet known whether they were arrested. The newspaper said Mr Cotler has been under 24-hour police protection for the past year, with the Canadian Security Intelligence Service telling him he was a high-profile target of Iran.
Mr Cotler, 84, served as a member of parliament for a Montreal riding from 1999 to 2015 and campaigned to designate Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) a terrorist organisation – a move Canada made last June. As a lawyer, he has represented Iranian political prisoners in court. He also served as Canada’s first special envoy for Holocaust remembrance and combating anti-Semitism.
The former politician did not respond to The National‘s request for comment.
The news comes after the US this month charged a man accused of involvement in a plot allegedly ordered by the IRGC to assassinate president-elect Donald Trump. Iran reportedly informed President Joe Biden’s administration that it was not trying to kill Mr Trump.
Updated: November 18, 2024, 6:57 PM