Two people accused of killing a vocal critic of Iran in British Columbia have appeared by video in a Vancouver courtroom.
Forty-eight-year-old Mehdi Ahmadzadeh Razavi of Maple Ridge and 45-year-old Arezou Soltani of North Vancouver are accused of first-degree murder in the death of Masood Masjoody, a mathematician and former instructor at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, B.C.
Both accused appeared today by video from Port Coquitlam, B.C., with Razavi in a red T-shirt and Soltani wearing blue, and only speaking to identify themselves.
A publication ban on information emerging at their bail hearing was imposed and their next appearance is scheduled for March 25.
Homicide investigators have said Masjoody was last seen in February, and his remains were found in Mission, B.C., on March 6.
Sgt. Freda Fong says investigators believe Masjoody's killing was "targeted," and that the Burnaby man had "ongoing disputes" with the suspects.
Court records show Masjoody filed lawsuits in recent years naming many parties as defendants, including the suspects and the late Shah of Iran's son, Reza Pahlavi, alleging defamation and harassment.
Court documents and Masjoody's social media posts show he was a critic of the Iranian regime, but also accused members of the dissident community, including Pahlavi, of connections to Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps.
Pahlavi said in an affidavit filed in November that he did not know Masjoody, that he denied all of the allegations, and that "Mehdi Ahmadzadeh" was not affiliated with him or acting as his agent.
Masjoody was declared a "vexatious litigant" by the B.C. Court of Appeal last year.
Picture Courtesy: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Handout — Integrated Homicide Investigation Team
