Wednesday, April 2, 2008 at 12:12am
NZ rejects Iran convert's asylum plea
The New Zealand government rejected an asylum appeal by an Iranian convert to Christianity. Lawyers for Ali Reza Panah told Radio New Zealand Tuesday the Immigration Service turned down Panah's appeal and would begin deportation proceedings, Religious Intelligence reported Wednesday.
Panah was held in administrative custody for 20 months for refusing to sign papers that could lead to his expulsion and staged a 52-day hunger strike before being paroled into the custody of the Anglican Church of New Zealand. He won the backing of Archbishop David Moxon who pleaded to the government for clemency.
Returning Panah to Iran "would be unsafe for him" and they were "gravely concerned" for his safety should he be sent home, as "the number of people executed by the Iranian State each year is thought to be second only to China," Moxon and the head of the church's social justice commission.
The government argued "there's been no reported case of a deportee being killed or severely persecuted on return to Iran." However, President Mahmoud Amadinejad proposed legislation before the Iranian Majlis in February tat imposes the death penalty for apostates from Islam.
Panah was held in administrative custody for 20 months for refusing to sign papers that could lead to his expulsion and staged a 52-day hunger strike before being paroled into the custody of the Anglican Church of New Zealand. He won the backing of Archbishop David Moxon who pleaded to the government for clemency.
Returning Panah to Iran "would be unsafe for him" and they were "gravely concerned" for his safety should he be sent home, as "the number of people executed by the Iranian State each year is thought to be second only to China," Moxon and the head of the church's social justice commission.
The government argued "there's been no reported case of a deportee being killed or severely persecuted on return to Iran." However, President Mahmoud Amadinejad proposed legislation before the Iranian Majlis in February tat imposes the death penalty for apostates from Islam.