2011-08-16
To the Swedish Migration Board
Subject: Request for a review of an asylum case
Re: Navid Merpourzadih 800321
Born in Gachsaaraan,Iran
Migration Authority Reference No: 112408447
Dear Sir/Madam!
We received with regret the news of Migration Authority’s decision to deport Navid Mirpourzadeh a member of our organization, coordinator of our campaign in support of political prisoners in Iran and their families, asylum right activist, and an activist against execution and stoning etc.
We strongly believe that the decision was taken either irrespective of the realities on the ground in Iran, Navid’s previous home country, or due to lack of logical argument by legal misrepresentation. Therefore We once again request a revision and a new ruling in our member’s request for political asylum status, and leave to stay in Sweden, the country that is his deliberate choice in which to live.
This time, to argue for our case, we would like to emphasize Navid’s political activities in Sweden, where, thanks to the general respect for democratic values and individual rights, unlike in Iran under the Islamic Republic, political activists political activities for freedom of Iran and a humane governance are being conducted in total openness, transparency and are therefore documentable – characteristics of political activity that are rare under dictatorships such as Iran, Syria, Libya, etc.[i], due to the nature of political and security realities on the ground.
Navid’s political activities in Sweden
Navid is a member of our organization, an international political group called Mission Free Iran (MFI).[ii] Our mission statement clearly calls for overthrow of Islamic regime in its entirety and establishment of a democratic, humane and progressive governance. We among others demand and campaign for the Islamic regime’s expulsion from ILO, UNCSW, WHO and other International institutions.
We were one of the initiators and major participants of the renowned international campaign, “Save Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani.” As a member of MFI, he is responsible for refugee-related activities: MFI is one of four constituent organizations of the International Coalition for the Rights of Iranian Refugees (ICRIR).[iii]
As MFI’s Swedencoordinator for refugees, Navid answers requests sent by individual asylum seekers in need of legal, moral and social assistance; He also coordinates group actions striving for respect for the rights of refugees, which are universally recognized under jus cogens international law. Among our recent activities in which Navid played a central role, the case of Keivan Soufastaei, Mohammad Mehdi Maleki, Marzieh Kamangar and others should be mentioned – all of whom were to be illegally delivered to the hand of the Islamic regime and were saved thanks to last minute decision of the Migration boards to review and later grant them asylum status.[iv] Navid is also a co-administrator of the refugee rights advocacy site No Human is Illegal, as well as a board member of the campaign to support political prisoners and their families. [v]
Since Navid was released from detention, He has continued his political activities. Political activity is and for the past 32 years has been a matter on the agenda of the majority of Iranian people. This reality – this revolutionary demand for change – has been one of the reasons for the excessive brutality, the overflowing prisons, torture and execution. Navid , like many others, did not stop his political activities after detention. He was forced to leave Iran, HeI entered Sweden,[vi] applied for refugee status inSweden, and since that day he left, two years ago, not a day has passed without individual or organizational activity of some kind against the Islamic Republic.
Navid’s open, radical and public activities inSwedenagainst the Islamic regime are well-documented. These activities include organizing demonstrations related to political campaigns against the Islamic regime by the political organizations we collaborate with. It should suffice to say that the Islamic Republic is very well-aware of Navid’s identity and his activities against the regime: His name and photograph appear with his email address and phone number on numerous social media sites as an organizer of anti-regime protest actions.
As mentioned above, we as MFI were a major part of the forces behind the “Save Sakineh” campaign, and Navid had a decisive role in organizing anti-stoning, anti-execution, and anti-Islamic protest actions in which we exposed crimes of this regime against humanity, and primarily the Iranian people, as well as the terrorist nature of its foreign policy. The following links show only a few actions in which Navid has had a leading role or participated:
The 7 April 2011episode of Nahade Mardomi, an anti-Islamic Republic satellite television program that is broadcast worldwide and into Iran (I appear from minute 17:30). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A19XtDzkrbc
A 20 February 2011demonstration in Örebro, Sweden, which is publicly available on youtube.com, during which were shouted revolutionary chants of “Down with the Islamic Republic!”and “Down with the Dictator!” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-uO4CCtQ9v8
A 28 August 2010 demonstration in Örebro, Sweden, which is publicly available on youtube.com and was part of the 100 Cities against Stoning Campaign in support of Sakineh Ashtiani. This campaign was the single-most devastating international indictment of the legitimacy of the Islamic Republic, causing turmoil inside the regime for months. Navid was interviewed at minute 2:07and appears throughout the 10 minute clip. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8tauCs1GAw
Navid’s published activities as an ex-Muslim (apostate)
Navid is an ex-Muslim and an atheist. He, like majority of Iranians, is well aware of the reactionary, barbaric nature the Quran’s teaching. As an atheist, he considered himself of having a duty to propagate against a belief which has ruined lives of millions of people in Islam-infested countries. As an individual, he run an anti-Islamic blog, as well as general political blog. One of his personal sites, http://navidsweden.blogfa.com/, has been filtered inIran by the Islamic regime and its contents are not available to the Iranian readership
As is well-known, being an ex-Muslim – and an atheist no less – constitutes the so-called crime of “apostasy” under shari’a law, which the Islamic Republic professes to adhere to. Apostasy, under shari’a law, carries the death penalty. Writing against Islam is considered a crime of “blasphemy.”
The Islamic Republic has recently handed down a death sentence to Yousef Nadarkhani on the charge of “apostasy,” despite the fact that no articles in the Islamic Republic’s legal code refer to such a crime; the presiding judge based his opinion on texts by Iranian religious scholars. Behrouz Sadegh-Khanjani had also faced a possible indictment for apostasy; instead of execution, however, he has been handed a prison term.
The best-known example of the Islamic Republic’s position on the crime of “blasphemy” is that of Salman Rushdie, author of the book Satanic Verses. Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa against Rushdie in 1989, calling for his murder. The current dictator of the regime, Ayatollah Khamenei, reissued the call for the murder of Salman Rushdie after Khomeini’s death. The fatwa against Rushdie on charges of blasphemy remains in place and as late as 2007, Rushdie continued to receive threats against his life from the regime.
The Islamic Republic’s stated position on Iranian political asylum-seekers
It is expected that the Migration authorities are aware of the facts on the ground in Iranand well updated; they therefore must be familiar with the Islamic Republic’s recently issued statements regarding the use of Article 7 of the Islamic Penal Code to prosecute Iranian asylum-seekers who are returned to Iran.[vii] Those who are familiar with the politics of Islamic Republic know that this regime does not respect any law, even the barbaric Islamic constitution. Regarding Article 7, if there are those “fanatical optimists” who go to great lengths to translate the savage Shari’a law to as close to humane as it could get, the leaders and guardians of the Islamic regime very recently left no room for optimism or creative positive translation: they have clearly stated their intentions to prosecute Iranian asylum-seekers – particularly politically active refugees – should they be deported back to Iran. [viii]
Summary
In light of Navid’s activities in Sweden alone, and only over the past 2 years, even if the Migration authorities disregard all his claims about his activities in Iran, it is clear that according to documented evidence as well as Islamic legal grounds that:
1) as a political activist actively calling for the revolutionary overthrow of the Islamic regime inIran,
2) as an ex-Muslim propagating anti-Islamic and atheist beliefs, and
3) as a person who is visibly active in his role of helping Iranian dissidents obtain their freedom from the yoke of the Islamic Republic’s savagery,
He is considered a “Mohareb” and a “blasphemer” under what passes for the law in the Islamic Republic and am punishable by execution.[ix]
We demand protection for our beloved member Navid Mirpourzadeh.
On behalf of all our members and activist,
Ahmad Fatemi,
Director
MFI
[i] To his claims as an asylum seeker who meets the criteria described in Conditions governing eligibility for refugee status or international protection (2004/83/EC ), as well as the Geneva convention relating to status of refugee (1951), including:
1) His general political activities, our family’s history of anti-Islamic regime sympathy, and the fact that his older brother, Hamid Reza Mirpourzadeh a Haft Tappeh Sugarcane Unionist, was killed under torture by the Islamic regime while detained on political charges on Nov 30 year 2001, prior to Navid’s arrest ;
2) Navid’s political activities during his university years; security forces’ constant harassment and threats against him; his expulsion from Gachsaaraan Azad University in 2007 due to political activities; his arrest and subsequent detention consisting of 21 days of torture, beatings and the usual humiliation in the hands of the Information Ministry thugs, and so on;
the Migration authority has simply answered: “Claim cannot be proven.” Certainly Migration officials do not expect the Islamic Republic, which propagates that it is the most democratic political system in the entire world and has even sent Ahmadinejad to deny the stoning sentence of Sakineh Ashtiani in the Western media, to issue sentencing documents for torture, rape, and arbitrary detention and arrest! These gentlemen should know that Yousef Nadarkani, a Christian pastor, is under death sentence for “apostasy,” a “crime” that does not even appear in the Islamic Republic’s Penal Code.
[ii] A key excerpt of Mission Free Iran’s mission statement reads as follows:
“The mission of MFI is to echo the demands for freedom, equality and social justice that are being articulated by the current democratic revolution ongoing in Iranby working collaboratively with international grassroots activist organizations to efficiently and effectively disseminate these demands outside of Iran, with the goal of unifying the political and social forces that promote a democratic Iran. Success in achieving this goal will place the Islamic Republic of Iran under political, economical, diplomatic, and legal pressure. By compelling this violent regime to retreat, we will bring the end of this regime closer, and decrease the violence and bloodshed thrust upon the Iranian people over the past 30 years.” Read the complete statement here: https://missionfreeiran.org/about/
[iii] Members of the ICRIR include Action for Democracy and Human Rights in the Middle East, International Federation for Iranian Refugees, Iranian Refugee Amnesty Network, and Mission Free Iran. Read more about ICRIR here: http://www.icrir.org/
[iv] An excerpt from our documents on Mohammad Mehdi Maleki: “We were informed by the authorities that our client, Mehdi Maleki, was released from detention and his deportation order stopped yesterday after Sweden’s initial decision to implement his deportation on 13 May 2011. This victory is thanks to the efforts of concerned people around the world who called or wrote to Swedish Embassies and the Swedish Immigration Office to demand a halt to the deportation; the efforts of lawyer Bo Johansson of the Swedish Refugee Advice Centre; the work of others including UNHCR and Amnesty International; and around-the-clock action by organizations such as the International Organization of Iranian Refugees – Swedish Section, the International Federation for Iranian Refugees, the International Coalition for the Rights of Iranian Refugees, and Mission Free Iran. By halting Sweden’s deportation of Iranian human rights activist Mohammad Mehdi Maleki to Iran…” (read more here: https://missionfreeiran.org/2011/05/13/mehdi-free-sweden-to-to-be-held)
More or less the same applies in cases of our other clients.
[v] https://missionfreeiran.org/?s=political+prisoners
[vi] Navid’s own words : In 2008, while travelling toShiraz to get publication material, I was informed through a mutual friend that my contact, a friend by the name Pouya, had been arrested by the security forces and his place had been ransacked. I was aware of the risks should he be tortured to talk about his contacts; therefore, to avoid arrest, I travelled toTehran and took refuge at my uncle’s home. During this time I was informed by my cousin that the security forces had visited my family on several occasions and were trying to locate my whereabouts. At this point, I decided to leaveIran to avoid being arrested and prosecuted. I leftIran toTurkey over land, and after 7 months inTurkey, I managed to enterSweden.
[vii] Article 7 of the Islamic Penal Code provides that individuals who are arrested in Iran for crimes that occurred outside the country are tried according to the Islamic Penal Code. The Islamic Republic considers all Iranian political asylum-seekers to be criminal propagating against the regime and has therefore promised prosecution of returned asylum-seekers under the provisions of Article 7.
The Islamic Republic has on several occasions declared and applied its intent to prosecute returned political asylum-seekers on the basis of Article 7 of the Islamic Republic’s Penal Code. The regime’s Chief Prosecutor, Mohsen Eje’i, has supported arguments articulated by retired judge and lawyer Abdoulnabi Molahzadeh, who stated on February 17, 2011 that anyone who has filed a political refugee case is considered a person engaged in propaganda against the Islamic regime and therefore criminal and subject to prosecution under Article 7. A recent example of the application of this intent is the case of Rahim Rostami, a teen-aged Kurdish asylum seeker who was extradited fromNorwaytoIranonFebruary 9th 2011, and is currently detained in Evin Prison (which houses primarily political prisoners).
The original statements of the regime figures appear in Farsi here:
Eje’i: http://www.iribnews.ir/Default.aspx?Page=MainContent&news_num=273655
Molahzadeh: http://www.iran-newspaper.com/1389/11/28/Iran/4726/Page/26/Index.htm
The English translation of these statements can be found within this article:
https://missionfreeiran.org/2011/04/28/iri-refugees-persecution/
[viii] Article 7 of the Islamic Penal Code provides that individuals who are arrested in Iran for crimes that occurred outside the country are tried according to the Islamic Penal Code. The Islamic Republic considers all Iranian political asylum-seekers to be criminal propagating against the regime and has therefore promised prosecution of returned asylum-seekers under the provisions of Article 7.
The Islamic Republic has on several occasions declared and applied its intent to prosecute returned political asylum-seekers on the basis of Article 7 of the Islamic Republic’s Penal Code. The regime’s Chief Prosecutor, Mohsen Eje’i, has supported arguments articulated by retired judge and lawyer Abdoulnabi Molahzadeh, who stated on February 17, 2011 that anyone who has filed a political refugee case is considered a person engaged in propaganda against the Islamic regime and therefore criminal and subject to prosecution under Article 7. A recent example of the application of this intent is the case of Rahim Rostami, a teen-aged Kurdish asylum seeker who was extradited fromNorwaytoIranonFebruary 9th 2011, and is currently detained in Evin Prison (which houses primarily political prisoners).
The original statements of the regime figures appear in Farsi here:
Eje’i: http://www.iribnews.ir/Default.aspx?Page=MainContent&news_num=273655
Molahzadeh: http://www.iran-newspaper.com/1389/11/28/Iran/4726/Page/26/Index.htm
The English translation of these statements can be found within this article:
https://missionfreeiran.org/2011/04/28/iri-refugees-persecution/[ix]
On 17 May 2011, two young brothers, Mohammad and Abdollah Fathi, were executed in Isfahan Prison,Iran, on charges of “Moharabeh” – because their father was a political activist. Their father was living outside the country and could not be captured by the regime, and therefore the regime executed his children.
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Posted by Ham Sangar | August 17, 2011, 8:07 am