An Iranian doctor provides new information about the hellish ordeal suffered by Zahra Kazemi, a Canadian-Iranian photographer murdered in an Iranian prison: Zahra Kazemi was tortured, Iranian doctor says in Canada. (Thanks to all who emailed.)

Shahram Aazam, an Iranian who has been granted asylum in Canada, contradicted conclusions by the Iranian authorities about Kazemi’s death when he spoke at an Ottawa press conference.

Aazam said he was the first doctor to examine the 54-year-old photographer when she was transported to a Tehran hospital four days after her arrest for taking photos of a demonstration in front of a prison.

Foreign Minister Pierre Pettigrew later told a press conference in Toronto: “What we have learned from Dr Aazam is what we have known for a long time. The Iranian justice system has failed in every instance so far.”

Aazam gave a detailed and what Pettigrew described as “gruesome” report of the condition of Kazemi’s condition.

He said that on the night of June 27, 2003, an unconscious Kazemi, with an armed guard, was transported to a military hospital in the Iranian capital where Aazam, then a major in the Iranian army, was working in the emergency room.

“Everything I saw indicated that organized torture and not an injury was what caused her death,” including what he called strange signs of violence and evidence of rape.

Aazami spoke of broken fingers, missing finger nails, and “a brutal damage to her genital part.”

Aazam said: “Being a doctor, I could see that this has been caused by torture. The signs and the bruises that existed … they were not caused at one time. Because of the difference in the colour of the bruises, some of them looked fresher than the others.”

Canada says they’re even more committed to following their present course for dealing with this outrage against a Canadian citizen: Doctor’s account of Kazemi injuries reinforces Canadian position: Pettigrew.

OTTAWA (CP) - A doctor’s “gruesome” account of injuries he found on Canadian journalist Zahra Kazemi only reinforces Canada’s belief that the woman was murdered in Iran, Foreign Affairs Minister Pierre Pettigrew said Thursday.

“We know that she was murdered and not the victim of an accident,” the minister said in Toronto. Canada has not given up on the case and will enlist international support against Iran, Pettigrew added. “We will be continuing to work with the international community, put the pressure on Iran so that they render justice,” he said.

Stockwell Day, the Tory foreign affairs critic, suggested the recall of Canada’s ambassador and the imposition of sanctions, but Pettigrew wasn’t enthusiastic. Canada needs an ambassador in Tehran to keep the pressure on, he said.

Yeah, that’ll show the mullahs.