A candlelight dinner usually denotes romance.
But at a Dec. 10 Amnesty International dinner in Coquitlam, candles will be lit for another reason.
"We'll be lighting candles on Dec. 10, as we do each year," says Nancy Furness, a member of the Tri-Cities Amnesty group, "to remind everyone of the men and women around the world who risk their lives in order to have the freedom to speak their own language, to practise their own religion or simply to protest an injustice."
Furness, a Port Coquitlam resident, will be the keynote speaker at the Human Rights Day dinner set for Tuesday at Pasta Polo restaurant in Coquitlam.
She will speak about successes such as the recent release of Canadian-Iranian prisoner of conscience Hamid Ghassemi-Shall, who spent five years in the prison under threat of execution.
Amnesty Interna-tional began campaigning on Ghassemi-Shall's behalf in December 2009 and hundreds of messages - letters, emails and faxes - were sent to government representatives across Canada and in Iran, with Canadian officials calling for his release in Parliament.
Furness will also touch on indigenous rights - in Colombia and in Canada - in her talk and discuss the rights of indigenous people to make their own decisions about how and when their lands and resources will be used and developed.
TICKET INFO
Tickets for the Dec. 10 dinner fundraiser cost $20 and include dinner, music by Tony Prophet, opportunities to sign petitions and letters, and a silent auction. The dinner takes place from 6:30 to 9 p.m. at Pasta Polo, 2754 Barnet Hwy., Coquitlam. To reserve your tickets, call 604-941-2606.
