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Britain grants gay Iranian a reprieve

Sat 15 Mar 2008 In: International News View at Wayback

Britain has granted 19-year-old gay Iranian Mehdi Kazemi a reprieve from deportation to Iran, where he feared he could be hanged for his homosexuality. British Interior Minister Jacqui Smith said in a statement that "in the light of new circumstances" the teenager's appeal for asylum in Britain should be reconsidered. "This is very positive. But reconsidered doesn't mean he'll get a permit, they could still deny what he is asking," Kazemi's Dutch lawyer, Borg Palm, told Reuters. Senior British lawmakers had urged Smith to show mercy and grant Kazemi asylum in Britain, where his uncle has lived for 30 years. "We are deeply concerned at the possible execution of Mehdi Kazemi if he is refused asylum in the UK and is deported to Iran," read a letter to Smith signed by 63 members of the House of Lords, Britain's unelected upper chamber of parliament. Human rights groups and gay rights advocates have rallied to Kazemi's cause, highlighting the Iranian government's track record of executing homosexuals. "If returned to Tehran, he will be at risk of imprisonment, torture and execution," said Peter Tatchell, the founder of Outrage, a gay rights group.    

Credit: GayNZ.com News Staff

First published: Saturday, 15th March 2008 - 2:51pm

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