Prince Edward Island Senator Michael Duffy started off his speech about imprisoned student Hamed Rouhinejad with: "...it saddens me to think that the great people of Iran, a country that in the past has contributed so much to the world, are now subjected to the tyranny of the fanatical regime."

He added: "Mr. Rouhinejad suffers from multiple sclerosis. He is a sick young man. He is physically weak. He currently sits in prison without access to medical care, and, according to his father, his condition is deteriorating. This is the true face of the Iranian regime — so paranoid, so afraid of dissent that they will go so far as to imprison a sick and diseased young man because of his political beliefs. In Iran, everyone is seen as a threat, even people who would never have the physical strength to affect the regime. How can we call the Iranian justice system anything less than cowardly?