Canada's foreign minister asks Iran to release Canadian on death row.

Canada's foreign minister asks Iran to release Canadian on death row.(E24/7).Canada's foreign minister on Monday called on Iran to halt the imminent execution of Canadian-Iranian Hamid Ghassemi-Shall and to release the man accused of espionage.Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird and Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Diane Ablonczy issued a joint statement asking Iran to release and halt the execution of Hamid Ghassemi-Shall "Canada is gravely concerned by indications that the execution of Mr. Ghassemi-Shall may be carried out imminently," Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird said in a statement. "Canada urgently appeals to the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran to grant clemency to Mr. Ghassemi-Shall on compassionate and humanitarian grounds. "We urge Iran to reverse its current course and to adhere to its international human rights obligations." Hamid Ghassemi-Shall, 42, was detained in Iran and sentenced to death for espionage in 2009. According to a website dedicated to his case, freehamid.org, Ghassemi-Shall left Toronto in May 2008 to visit his mother in Tehran. While he was there, his brother, Alborz Ghassemi, was arrested, and Iranian authorities seized Hamid's passports, credit cards and other items. Alborz Ghassemi subsequently died in custody. Ghassemi-Shall was arrested when he made arrangements to retrieve his papers from Iranian officials. His wife, Antonella Mega, denies that her husband is a spy. Mega said Sunday that her morale is low after fighting for years to secure her husband's release. "I'm really praying to God that (Iranian officials) will do the right thing," Mega told CTV News. In a letter to the Canadian government dated February 22, 2011, Secretary General Alex Neve said the organization is "gravely concerned that he has been subject to torture and ill-treatment," and called on the Canadian government to intervene on his behalf.He immigrated to Canada following the Islamic revolution of 1979, living mostly in Toronto, but Iran does not recognize his dual citizenship.Read the full story here, more (Video) here.