Alison Azer says the Canadian government’s inaction in the case to find her abducted kids has led to the dismissal of charges against her husband.
The British Columbia woman’s four children were taken to Iran by their father, Saren, one year ago.
“This is political interference of the most nefarious kind,” Alison Azer told Global News by phone Saturday, calling Canada’s lack of action, “negligent.”
READ MORE: How much can the Canadian government do to bring the Azer children home?
Saren was reportedly arrested by Iranian officials on June 12 in the province of West Azerbaijan but the charges have since been dropped, Azer says.
The charges were based on an Interpol Red Notice Alert, which charged him of “Abduction in Contravention of Custody Order.”
Azer says her lawyer in Iran told her the charges were dropped because no one from the Government of Canada contacted Iranian officials.
She then shared the information with Global Affairs on July 29 but it was “the first they’d heard of it.”
“They were not following the case in any diligent, professional way,” she said.
Azer had previously alleged that attempts by RCMP officers to contact Iranian officials were blocked by Global Affairs.
As of this writing, Global Affairs hasn’t responded questions on the matter.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau met with Azer in May and she said he told her he was “preoccupied” with her case and the file was on his desk.
WATCH: Trudeau ‘closely engaged’ in bringing Azer children home
But Azer says that words aren’t enough.
“I have seen the dark underbelly of this government,” she said. “…Senior government officials and beyond are blocking RCMP from honouring international protocol with agreements for INTERPOL.”
NDP MP Gord Johns, who serves Alison’s riding, said he is “deeply concerned” in the release.
“I’m deeply concerned about the apparent inaction by the government of Canada with regard to the arrest of Saren Azer in Iran. Our only concern is to see the safe return of the four Canadian Azer children. Canada has not acted when they should be acting,” he wrote.
Saren, an Iranian-born Kurd who came to Canada in 1994, spoke to Global News in May saying he fled Canada after a bitter marriage breakdown because his kids were subjected to “terror.”
READ MORE: Man who abducted his 4 kids, brought them to Iran, says he was escaping ‘Canadian nightmare’
“We were surrounded, we were encircled, we were brutalized,” Saren told Global News in an exclusive Skype interview from Iran.
“For others it might be just another case in a family court. What I saw my children go through was nothing less than a terror.”
Despite the setbacks, Azer says she is more determined than ever to get her kids back.
“I will carry on, I won’t give up,” she said. “My duty now is to let Canadians know.”
A petition online calling for Trudeau’s help has over 14,000 signatures, according to the foundation.
*With files from Monique Muise
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