INDEPENDENT.CO.UK

A gay teenager who sought sanctuary in Britain when his boyfriend was executed by the Iranian authorities now faces the same fate after losing his legal battle for asylum.

Mehdi Kazemi, 19, came to London to study English in 2004 but later discovered that his boyfriend had been arrested by the Iranian police, charged with sodomy and hanged.

In a telephone conversation with his father in Tehran, Mr Kazemi was told that before the execution in April 2006, his boyfriend had been questioned about sexual relations he had with other men and under interrogation had named Mr Kazemi as his partner.

Fearing for his own life if he returned to Iran, Mr Kazemi claimed asylum in Britain. But late in 2007 his case was refused. Terror-stricken at the prospect of deportation the young Iranian made a desperate attempt to evade deportation and fled Britain for Holland where he is now being detained amid a growing outcry from campaigners.

He appeared before a Dutch court yesterday to plead with the authorities not to return him to Britain where he is almost certain to be sent back to Iran.

In a letter to the British Government, Mr Kazemi has told the Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith: " I wish to inform the Secretary of State that I did not come to the UK to claim asylum. I came here to study and return to my country. But in the past few months my situation back home has changed. The Iranian authorities have found out that I am a homosexual and they are looking for me." He added: " I cannot stop my attraction towards men. This is something that I will have to live with the rest of my life. I was born with the feeling and cannot change this fact but it is unfortunate that I cannot express my feeling in Iran. If I return to Iran I will be arrested and executed like my former boyfriend."

Mr Kazemi' s future will now be decided by a Dutch appeal court, which will rule whether to grant him permission to apply for asylum in Holland, which offers special protection to gay Iranians, or whether he will be deported to Britain. His case has attracted support from leading gay rights groups across Europe who are campaigning to allow him to live in Britain.

Omar Kuddus, from Gay Asylum UK, said that Britain must do more to protect homosexual asylum-seekers such as Mr Kazemi: " The challenge and legality under question and debate in the Dutch court is if he can or should be deported back to the UK under the Dublin Treaty which compels EU states to send asylum-seekers to the first European country they claim asylum."

Peter Tatchell, of the gay rights campaign group Outrage, described the Government' s policy as " outrageous and shameful" . He said: " If Mehdi is sent back to Iran he will be at risk of execution because of his homosexuality. This is a flagrant violation of Britain' s obligations under the refugee convention.

" It is just the latest example of the Government putting the aims of cutting asylum numbers before the merits of individual cases. The whole world knows that Iran hangs young, gay men and uses a particularly barbaric method of slow strangulation. In a bid to fulfil its target to cut asylum numbers the Government is prepared to send this young man to his possible death. It is a heartless, cruel mercenary anti-refugee policy."

Emma Ginn, of the National Coalition of Anti-Deportation Campaigns, met Mr Kazemi at the Tinsley House removal centre, near Gatwick airport, while he was being detained by the Home Office. She recalls: " Mehdi was very anxious when I visited him in Tinsley. The Home Office planned to deport him two days later to Iran where he risked being executed like his boyfriend had been. I' m not surprised he fled the UK."

According to Iranian human rights campaigners, more than 4,000 gay men and lesbians have been executed since the Ayatollahs seized power in 1979. The last reported case of the death penalty imposed against a gay man was that of Makwan Moloudzadeh, 21, who was executed in December after being convicted for sodomy, or lavat, a capital offence under Iranian law.

Last year, the Foreign Office released correspondence sent between embassies throughout the EU dating back to May 2005. They refer specifically to the case of two gay youths, Mahmoud Asqari, under 18 at the time of his execution, and Ayad Marhouni, who were hanged in public.

The Home Office' s own guidance issued to immigration officers concedes that Iran executes homosexual men but, unaccountably, rejects the claim that there is a systematic repression of gay men and lesbians.

The Government has a policy of not commenting on individual cases but a Home Office spokeswoman said: " The UK Government is committed to providing protection for those individuals found to be genuinely in need, in accordance with our commitments under international law. If an application is refused, there is a right of appeal to an independent judge, and we only return those who have been found by the asylum decision-making process and the independent courts not to need international protection.

" We examine with great care each individual case before removal and we will not remove anyone who we believe is at risk on their return. However, in order to maintain the integrity of our asylum system and prevent unfounded applications it is important that we are able to enforce returns of those who do not need protection." She added: " The Dublin Regulation states that an asylum applicant should make an application for protection in the first ' safe' country they reach having left their own country. If they do not do so, the Regulation permits the return of asylum applicants to the third country where the substantive asylum claim was made."

This is disgusting. Reading this made me physically ill to my stomach.

To do anything but help the young man, as far as I' m concerned is state-sponsored premeditated murder, and should be treated as such on a legal level.

Being fully aware of the problem of people claiming asylum in Britain, to close your countries borders to those in real need like this is positively shameful.

It is also sad that they have to face such a consequence for their sexual preference.

Wether religiously correct or not, being homosexual is not a crime.

a guy like that would be be a profit to any society, he is already studying, and there is no way in hell he is a islamic terrorist, unless he is under diguise.

in denmark you cant send someone away if they are in fear of prosecution or torture for something like that.

Oh well, ...one less Iranian to worry about...

...and a million more anti-islamic sentiments created. I hate that the majority of Muslims and many Islamic governments are ruining their own societies by being fckwits.

True Islam and homosexuality dont mix, but to each his own. At least thats what I understand from what I' ve read.

A lot comes from the underdeveloped justice models that some of this countries have. Some are still living under the " Eye for and eye" motto, and while that works for certain crimes, there are also ridiculous situations as this. Religion should not play a part in the government and law systems.

I dont think Sharia law works for these modern times either. A lot of the laws were nothing to do with religion but merely what was practised at the time. I dunno if our own justice system is perfect though.

Most laws are made based on our own sense of morality, but who' s to say we' re right or wrong. We can only do what balances judicial order with what the majority find acceptable. After that, whether you believe in karma or an after-life or whatever, people usually get whats coming to them.

As for being gay, I think its natural, but for my own reasons I dont think its a lifestyle I would want to lead even if I was gay. Still doesn' t mean I bear any hatred for gay people.

Stuff like this is harsh of course. Due to immigration problems in our country many of those rotten eggs ruin it for people like these with legitimate reasons to move. It' s kind of odd that they want to send him home while those yelling things on the street like " European blood will flow" are allowed to stay...

ORIGINAL: choupolo
As for being gay, I think its natural, but for my own reasons I dont think its a lifestyle I would want to lead even if I was gay. Still doesn' t mean I bear any hatred for gay people.

What do you mean exactly with " the lifestyle" ? The extreme gay parade/over the top lifestyle? Or just being gay and choosing someone from the own sex? I don' t think it' s easy to pretend liking what you don' t like otherwise.
And yeah, it is natural. It' s weird that some still won' t believe this since humans aren' t the only ones where this exists. Most animal races seem to have this too though the percentage of gays and bi animals varies from race to race. There are of course people who won' t lsiten to this and claim that they still choose it. But I wonder why they would actually choose a life then where they can be ridiculed and even killed, if they as well can choose the other easier side?

And those Sharia laws...the bad part is that a few countries (Canada being one of them) are actually flirting with the idea of allowing certain parts of it in certain areas. This is a very bad idea! It' s like opening the flood gates. I for one think that our democracies are getting a little too weak in the name of multiculturism and political correctness.

What do you mean exactly with " the lifestyle" ? The extreme gay parade/over the top lifestyle? Or just being gay and choosing someone from the own sex? I don' t think it' s easy to pretend liking what you don' t like otherwise.

Well I know sexual preference is probably something you' re born with, but theres something about homosexuality that leads them towards a life focused on love and pleasure, and seems slightly hedonistic. I suppose its common to general western culture as well, where all many people want is love and a wealthy life.

The contradiction to Islamic values is obvious, where emphasis with relationships is on strict monogamy, arranged marriages based on family and absolute commitment than personal preference. Of course we' re all human and sexual attraction is a factor, but love and sex is by no means the be all and end all of a relationship.

I' m not saying either is right or wrong, but being muslim of course I lean towards the latter.

And those Sharia laws...the bad part is that a few countries (Canada being one of them) are actually flirting with the idea of allowing certain parts of it in certain areas. This is a very bad idea! It' s like opening the flood gates. I for one think that our democracies are getting a little too weak in the name of multiculturism and political correctness.

...which is I think the main flaw of the western judicial system, in that to allow everyone to get along, we let people get away with more. Freedom and democracy is great to an extent, but what happens when the majority of people dont know whats in their own best interests?

ORIGINAL: choupolo

What do you mean exactly with " the lifestyle" ? The extreme gay parade/over the top lifestyle? Or just being gay and choosing someone from the own sex? I don' t think it' s easy to pretend liking what you don' t like otherwise.

Well I know sexual preference is probably something you' re born with, but theres something about homosexuality that leads them towards a life focused on love and pleasure, and seems slightly hedonistic. I suppose its common to general western culture as well, where all many people want is love and a wealthy life.

Ok, I see. Yeah, there seem to be big parts within the community that choose a more hedonistic lifestyle. I think they kind of ruin it too for the others. For example some documentary they had recently about some married couple that had adopted a kid (they' re allowed to over here). You couldn' t even tell their preference from just looking at them which is a big difference compared to those over the top " look I' m gay" -types.

And those Sharia laws...the bad part is that a few countries (Canada being one of them) are actually flirting with the idea of allowing certain parts of it in certain areas. This is a very bad idea! It' s like opening the flood gates. I for one think that our democracies are getting a little too weak in the name of multiculturism and political correctness.

...which is I think the main flaw of the western judicial system, in that to allow everyone to get along, we let people get away with more. Freedom and democracy is great to an extent, but what happens when the majority of people dont know whats in their own best interests?

Great point. There are many examples actually when people don' t know what' s best. I read somewhere that women were only allowed to vote in the late sixties in Switzerland for example. Because they let men vote if they wanted to let them or not. This is quite late in a European context of course and an example of why people shouldn' t always decide over everything. Although some here maybe like to argue this voting thing? ;)