Jerk Extraordinaire
Posts: 2,954 
Location: Atlantic Canada
Location: Atlantic Canada
March 13th, 2008, 02:23 PM
Iran has regularly executed people it has convicted of homosexual acts
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7294908.stm
Iran has regularly executed people it has convicted of homosexual acts
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7294908.stm
Quote:
The home secretary is to review the case of Iranian homosexual teenager Mehdi Kazemi, who has said he will be executed if forced to return to Iran.
The UK rejected his first asylum plea, but Jacqui Smith has now granted him a temporary reprieve from deportation while she reconsiders his case.
Mr Kazemi, 19, had failed to gain asylum in the Netherlands.
Homosexual acts are illegal in Iran and Mr Kazemi's boyfriend had named him as his partner before his own execution.
Ms Smith said: "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."
Urgent meeting
Following the announcement of a review, the Liberal Democrat MP for Southwark and Bermondsey, Simon Hughes, pledged to support Mr Kazemi if he was returned to the UK.
"I hope Mr Kazemi will now come back to Britain where arrangements are already in place for an urgent meeting with him, his family, specialist lawyers and myself to prepare a new application to the Home Office," he said.
Ben Summerskill, chief executive of gay rights group Stonewall, said the group was "delighted" that the home secretary had "listened to the representations that were made in this case".
"There are overwhelming reasons why people should not be deported to Iran in the current circumstances and it is important that Britain is seen as a safe haven," said Mr Summerskill.
Campaign cause
The teenager's case has become a campaign cause for gay rights activists across Europe.
More than 4,000 gay men and lesbians have been executed in Iran since the Ayatollahs seized power there in 1979, according to human rights campaigners from the country.
Mr Kazemi came to London in 2005 to study English but later discovered that his boyfriend had been arrested by the Iranian police, charged with sodomy and hanged. Mr Kazemi fled to the Netherlands after the Home Office rejected his case late last year.
The UK rejected his first asylum plea, but Jacqui Smith has now granted him a temporary reprieve from deportation while she reconsiders his case.
Mr Kazemi, 19, had failed to gain asylum in the Netherlands.
Homosexual acts are illegal in Iran and Mr Kazemi's boyfriend had named him as his partner before his own execution.
Ms Smith said: "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."
Urgent meeting
Following the announcement of a review, the Liberal Democrat MP for Southwark and Bermondsey, Simon Hughes, pledged to support Mr Kazemi if he was returned to the UK.
"I hope Mr Kazemi will now come back to Britain where arrangements are already in place for an urgent meeting with him, his family, specialist lawyers and myself to prepare a new application to the Home Office," he said.
Ben Summerskill, chief executive of gay rights group Stonewall, said the group was "delighted" that the home secretary had "listened to the representations that were made in this case".
"There are overwhelming reasons why people should not be deported to Iran in the current circumstances and it is important that Britain is seen as a safe haven," said Mr Summerskill.
Campaign cause
The teenager's case has become a campaign cause for gay rights activists across Europe.
More than 4,000 gay men and lesbians have been executed in Iran since the Ayatollahs seized power there in 1979, according to human rights campaigners from the country.
Mr Kazemi came to London in 2005 to study English but later discovered that his boyfriend had been arrested by the Iranian police, charged with sodomy and hanged. Mr Kazemi fled to the Netherlands after the Home Office rejected his case late last year.
Knows No Bounds
Posts: 2,969
Location: USA
Location: USA
March 13th, 2008, 04:42 PM
This is bull. There is no such thing as a gay Iranian. Being gay is an American phenomenom so sayeth Ahemedjani (or whatever way he spells it) the President of Iran. He said there are no gays in Iran in his speech at that Ivy League University.
This is bull. There is no such thing as a gay Iranian. Being gay is an American phenomenom so sayeth Ahemedjani (or whatever way he spells it) the President of Iran. He said there are no gays in Iran in his speech at that Ivy League University.
Jerk Extraordinaire
Posts: 2,954
Location: Atlantic Canada
Location: Atlantic Canada
March 24th, 2008, 02:53 PM
Quoting EagleSmack
Of course there's no Gays in Iran..... they deport or kill the ones that are there, thereby making it true
This is bull. There is no such thing as a gay Iranian. Being gay is an American phenomenom so sayeth Ahemedjani (or whatever way he spells it) the President of Iran. He said there are no gays in Iran in his speech at that Ivy League University.
