GORDON - DON'T SEND GAY ASYLUM SEEKER HOME TO HIS DEATH, SAYS EURO-MP

12.01.00pm GMT Thu 13th Mar 2008

Sending gay Iranian asylum seeker Mehdi Kazemi back to Iran would be a de facto death sentence and must not happen, according to a local Euro-MP.

Liz Lynne MEP has signed a letter to Gordon Brown and EU Commissioner for Freedom, Security and Justice Franco Frattini appealing against Mr Kazemi's deportation. Having been refused asylum in the Netherlands, Kazemi will be returned to the UK, where authorities have already turned down his request for asylum, despite the fact that the Iranian regime regularly executes gay and lesbian people, including his partner.

Speaking today, Liz Lynne, Member of the European Parliament's Human Rights subcommittee, said:

"This young man's case exposes the cruelty of the current Iranian regime and the need for Britain, with the rest of the EU, to have consistent and humane policies to prevent people being sent home to be tortured or executed.

"The UK Government must recognise that allowing his deportation would be tantamount to a death sentence and in contravention of our values and EU human rights law.

"The Home Office claims that a gay person can return to Iran and avoid persecution by being "discreet". But all the advice is that in Iran, to be discreet means that you would have to deny your identity. The punishment for giving in to personal feelings might well be nothing less than torture or death. This is clearly a form of discrimination and a serious breach of his human rights."