Saturday, March 15, 2008

Home Secretary Halts Deportation of Gay Teen to Iran

Thank goodness someone came to their senses and stopped 19 year old Mehdi Kazemi from being deported back to Iran where his lover has already been executed for being gay. I hope someone reviews the competence and intelligence of the bureaucrats in the Home Office that had originally denied Kazemi asylum. One would have thought that even a cretin could have figured out that Kazemi would likely be killed if returned to Iran. Here are some highlights from the Independent (http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/victory-for-kazemi-as-home-secretary-halts-deportation-to-iran-795713.html:)
A gay teenager who faces the death penalty if he is forced to return to Iran has won a temporary reprieve after the Home Secretary halted his planned deportation and agreed to reconsider his case. The Government's surprise intervention yesterday follows an international outcry over the plight of Mehdi Kazemi, 19, who lost his asylum claim in Britain even though his former boyfriend had been arrested by the Iranian state police and executed for sodomy.
Announcing the decision to rehear Mr Kazemi's case, the Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith, said yesterday: "Following representations made on behalf of Mehdi Kazemi, and in the light of new circumstances since the original decision was made, I have decided that Mr Kazemi's case should be reconsidered on his return to the UK from the Netherlands."
The Liberal Democrat European justice spokeswoman, the MEP Baroness Sarah Ludford, said: "This is a welcome move, even if it should have come voluntarily and without the need for so much pressure. But we must not forget other gay Iranians fearing for not only their liberty but their lives, such as Pegah Emambakhsh [an Iranian lesbian who is seeking asylum in Britain]. They deserve justice, too."

Mr Kazemi came to London to study in 2005, but in April 2006 discovered that his gay partner had been arrested by the Iranian authorities and named him as his boyfriend before his execution. Fearing he might suffer the same fate if he returned home after his studies, Mr Kazemi decided to seek asylum in Britain.

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