To see Fariborz Pooya's comments on religion and radicalism, click here.
Fariborz is one of the founding members of the Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain and the head of the Iranian Secular Society.
Monday, March 31, 2008
Court appearance of Mahmoud Salehi and referral of his case to prosecutor’s office
Update on Mahmoud Salehi from the Committee in Defence of Mahmoud Salehi
According to news we have received, on Saturday 29 March 2008 Mahmoud Salehi appeared in court, where he made his final defence in front of the judge.
Mahmoud Salehi’s case has been referred to the prosecutor’s office for the administration of sentence.
While on hunger strike, Mahmoud Salehi has lost weight, but psychologically remains determined and resolute. Following the court appearance, he was transferred back to the Central Prison of Sanandaj.
Mahmoud Salehi’s family have been able to meet him and pass on the message of his fellow workers and activists requesting him to end his hunger strike.
As an appreciation of the hard work of all those who have fought to save his life, Mahmoud Salehi has agreed to put an end to his full hunger strike.
Committee in Defence of Mahmoud Salehi
Saturday 29 March 2008
Translated by the International Labour Solidarity Committee of the Worker-communist Party of Iran
According to news we have received, on Saturday 29 March 2008 Mahmoud Salehi appeared in court, where he made his final defence in front of the judge.
Mahmoud Salehi’s case has been referred to the prosecutor’s office for the administration of sentence.
While on hunger strike, Mahmoud Salehi has lost weight, but psychologically remains determined and resolute. Following the court appearance, he was transferred back to the Central Prison of Sanandaj.
Mahmoud Salehi’s family have been able to meet him and pass on the message of his fellow workers and activists requesting him to end his hunger strike.
As an appreciation of the hard work of all those who have fought to save his life, Mahmoud Salehi has agreed to put an end to his full hunger strike.
Committee in Defence of Mahmoud Salehi
Saturday 29 March 2008
Translated by the International Labour Solidarity Committee of the Worker-communist Party of Iran
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Guilty of Blasphemy
March 2008
Ezra Levant
Guilty, the only way to plead
It's been more than 80 years since anyone in English Canada has been charged with blasphemy. Or at least it was until Jan. 11, 2008. That's when I was called before Alberta's Human Rights Commission to answer for publishing the Danish cartoons of Mohammed two years ago in the Western Standard magazine. The Alberta HRC isn't a criminal court, but the complaint against me is clearly the crime of blasphemy; my accuser, a Pakistani-born Muslim imam, told the HRC that I offended Islam and Mohammed himself, and cited passages from the Koran as legal proof. The HRC bought it, and for two years the secular government of Alberta has been enforcing a religious fatwa against me. Last month the imam said he's dropping his complaint because of the public backlash against him, but another Muslim group has filed an identical complaint, so the HRC is still prosecuting me. I'd call that a blasphemy case.
Like criminal blasphemy, the prosecution is handled by government lawyers paid for by the state; my accusers don't pay anything and are not liable for costs if they lose — or bail out like the imam did. The costs of my defense, even if I win, are paid for by me.
The officer investigating me has powers that exceed those of police officers. Under ss. 23 and 24 of the Alberta Human Rights Citizenship and Multiculturalism Act, she can enter my office without a search warrant, at any "reasonable" hour, to examine anything and take copies of any documents from my computer. She can enter my home to do so, but she needs a court order for that — though the law specifically permits ex parte applications.
The HRC has court-like powers when it comes to sentencing. The tribunal, which has no judges, can order me to pay five-figure -fines to both the government and the imam. It can order me- to "apologize," even if I don't believe I've done anything wrong. Some Canadian HRCs have gone further still, issuing lifetime publication and speech bans. Real judges throw out jailhouse confessions... HRCs demand them.
These procedural flaws have turned the process into a punishment in itself. But the real problem I have with the proceedings against me — and the reason I'm going to be convicted is that the statute I'm accused of breaking doesn't just inspect me. It measures other people's subjective feelings about me. The test of my guilt is not whether I’ve done anything or even intended to do anything. It's whether others — in this case, an imam who believes Canada should live under sharia law -- felt a certain way.
The Alberta statute, and it’s much the same across the country, bans any ‘publication’ or ‘statement’ or ‘symbol’ that “is likely a person or a class of persons to hatred or contempt.” That’s it. I don’t have to discriminate. No harm or damages need to be shown. The law doesn’t even require proof it exposes someone to contempt. I don’t have to cause such feelings. As long as such feelings are a “likely” result, then I’m guilty.
Any critical commentary, whether in the realm of art, religion, politics or comedy, causes feelings of admiration or contempt. It is absurd to propose to outlaw feelings or the causing of them. The outlawing of contempt in itself causing feelings of contempt, at least in me. Nowhere in our Charter of Rights or eight centuries of common law since the Magna Carta is there a right not to be offended or a right to be loved. But again, the HRC doesn’t seek only that utopia. In addition to banning thought crimes, they wish to ban thought pre-crimes.
Pre-crime is the phrase popularised in the blockbuster Minority report. Tom Cruise played a police officer in the near future who relied on psychics to predict crimes. He’s then arrest the people before they did anything report. There was no actus reus – just the say so of the psychics.
That’s what the statute’s working is. It’s not just the Orwellian crime of hurting feelings. It’s the sci-fi “pre-crime” of possibly hurting feeling in the future. For this, I stand accused. There is no honest way to plead, other than guilty.
Ezra Levant is a Calgary lawyer.
Ezra Levant
Guilty, the only way to plead
It's been more than 80 years since anyone in English Canada has been charged with blasphemy. Or at least it was until Jan. 11, 2008. That's when I was called before Alberta's Human Rights Commission to answer for publishing the Danish cartoons of Mohammed two years ago in the Western Standard magazine. The Alberta HRC isn't a criminal court, but the complaint against me is clearly the crime of blasphemy; my accuser, a Pakistani-born Muslim imam, told the HRC that I offended Islam and Mohammed himself, and cited passages from the Koran as legal proof. The HRC bought it, and for two years the secular government of Alberta has been enforcing a religious fatwa against me. Last month the imam said he's dropping his complaint because of the public backlash against him, but another Muslim group has filed an identical complaint, so the HRC is still prosecuting me. I'd call that a blasphemy case.
Like criminal blasphemy, the prosecution is handled by government lawyers paid for by the state; my accusers don't pay anything and are not liable for costs if they lose — or bail out like the imam did. The costs of my defense, even if I win, are paid for by me.
The officer investigating me has powers that exceed those of police officers. Under ss. 23 and 24 of the Alberta Human Rights Citizenship and Multiculturalism Act, she can enter my office without a search warrant, at any "reasonable" hour, to examine anything and take copies of any documents from my computer. She can enter my home to do so, but she needs a court order for that — though the law specifically permits ex parte applications.
The HRC has court-like powers when it comes to sentencing. The tribunal, which has no judges, can order me to pay five-figure -fines to both the government and the imam. It can order me- to "apologize," even if I don't believe I've done anything wrong. Some Canadian HRCs have gone further still, issuing lifetime publication and speech bans. Real judges throw out jailhouse confessions... HRCs demand them.
These procedural flaws have turned the process into a punishment in itself. But the real problem I have with the proceedings against me — and the reason I'm going to be convicted is that the statute I'm accused of breaking doesn't just inspect me. It measures other people's subjective feelings about me. The test of my guilt is not whether I’ve done anything or even intended to do anything. It's whether others — in this case, an imam who believes Canada should live under sharia law -- felt a certain way.
The Alberta statute, and it’s much the same across the country, bans any ‘publication’ or ‘statement’ or ‘symbol’ that “is likely a person or a class of persons to hatred or contempt.” That’s it. I don’t have to discriminate. No harm or damages need to be shown. The law doesn’t even require proof it exposes someone to contempt. I don’t have to cause such feelings. As long as such feelings are a “likely” result, then I’m guilty.
Any critical commentary, whether in the realm of art, religion, politics or comedy, causes feelings of admiration or contempt. It is absurd to propose to outlaw feelings or the causing of them. The outlawing of contempt in itself causing feelings of contempt, at least in me. Nowhere in our Charter of Rights or eight centuries of common law since the Magna Carta is there a right not to be offended or a right to be loved. But again, the HRC doesn’t seek only that utopia. In addition to banning thought crimes, they wish to ban thought pre-crimes.
Pre-crime is the phrase popularised in the blockbuster Minority report. Tom Cruise played a police officer in the near future who relied on psychics to predict crimes. He’s then arrest the people before they did anything report. There was no actus reus – just the say so of the psychics.
That’s what the statute’s working is. It’s not just the Orwellian crime of hurting feelings. It’s the sci-fi “pre-crime” of possibly hurting feeling in the future. For this, I stand accused. There is no honest way to plead, other than guilty.
Ezra Levant is a Calgary lawyer.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Mahmoud Salehi’s life is in danger!
March 18, 2008
You might have already been informed that Mahmoud Salehi, one of the well-known worker leaders in Iran, has been in prison since April 9, 2007. He is in prison for organising May Day celebrations in the city of Saqez and defending workers’ rights. Mahmoud Salehi is not in good health and his life is under threat. Salehi’s one-year prison term ends on March 23, 2008. However, yesterday Branch 4 of the Public Prosecutor's office of the city of Sanandaj summoned Mahmoud Salehi. Salehi is accused, this time, of communicating with outside of prison, of publishing messages in support of workers and students. The prosecutor’s office has issued a new temporary arrest for Mahmoud Salehi.
The Islamic Republic’s decision to keep Salehi in prison despite his grave health conditions is a criminal act. To protest this decision, Mahmoud Salehi has gone on total hunger strike (food and drink). Mahmoud Salehi’s life is under even greater danger now that he has made such a decision.
Neither celebrating May Day, nor issuing messages of solidarity with workers’ and students’ struggles is a crime. Mahmoud Salehi should be freed immediately and unconditionally and should be provided with necessary health-care.
To save Mahmoud Salehi’s life, immediate international action is required. This is the only way to put powerful enough pressure on the Islamic Republic regime in order to release Mahmoud Salehi, so that he would not have to continue with hunger strike and risk his life even further.
We request all workers’ organisations to act immediately on an international scale to save the life of Mahmoud Salehi and secure his immediate and unconditional release.
Shahla Daneshfar, Coordinator, International Labour Solidarity Committee of WPI
Bahram Soroush, Public relations
You might have already been informed that Mahmoud Salehi, one of the well-known worker leaders in Iran, has been in prison since April 9, 2007. He is in prison for organising May Day celebrations in the city of Saqez and defending workers’ rights. Mahmoud Salehi is not in good health and his life is under threat. Salehi’s one-year prison term ends on March 23, 2008. However, yesterday Branch 4 of the Public Prosecutor's office of the city of Sanandaj summoned Mahmoud Salehi. Salehi is accused, this time, of communicating with outside of prison, of publishing messages in support of workers and students. The prosecutor’s office has issued a new temporary arrest for Mahmoud Salehi.
The Islamic Republic’s decision to keep Salehi in prison despite his grave health conditions is a criminal act. To protest this decision, Mahmoud Salehi has gone on total hunger strike (food and drink). Mahmoud Salehi’s life is under even greater danger now that he has made such a decision.
Neither celebrating May Day, nor issuing messages of solidarity with workers’ and students’ struggles is a crime. Mahmoud Salehi should be freed immediately and unconditionally and should be provided with necessary health-care.
To save Mahmoud Salehi’s life, immediate international action is required. This is the only way to put powerful enough pressure on the Islamic Republic regime in order to release Mahmoud Salehi, so that he would not have to continue with hunger strike and risk his life even further.
We request all workers’ organisations to act immediately on an international scale to save the life of Mahmoud Salehi and secure his immediate and unconditional release.
Shahla Daneshfar, Coordinator, International Labour Solidarity Committee of WPI
Bahram Soroush, Public relations
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Makrameh Ebrahimi has been released!
On Monday, after 11 years in prison, Makrameh Ebrahimi, 43, who was sentenced to death by stoning was released from prison along with her 4 year old son Ali as a result of local and international outrage.
Whilst she and her son will be able to celebrate the Nowrooz with their family tomorrow, they will sorely miss Jafar Kiyani, her partner and Ali's father, who has already been stoned to death in July 2007.
Congratulations to all those who campaigned on her behalf.
We must, however, keep the pressure on to stop stoning and the death penalty altogether in Iran and elsewhere.
Whilst she and her son will be able to celebrate the Nowrooz with their family tomorrow, they will sorely miss Jafar Kiyani, her partner and Ali's father, who has already been stoned to death in July 2007.
Congratulations to all those who campaigned on her behalf.
We must, however, keep the pressure on to stop stoning and the death penalty altogether in Iran and elsewhere.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Taslima Nasrin: Continuous denial of medical care, endangering her life
18 March 2008
The Hague
URGENT APPEAL: [UA-IN-18.03.2008].
Dear Friends,
Global Human Rights Defence (GHRD) would like to express its sincere sympathy concerning the continuous sufferings of human rights activist Taslima Nasrin.
Ms. Nasrin, whose Indian visa recently was renewed for another six months, has sent GHRD a letter telling us that she is currently suffering from severe health problems due to denied medical attention. The author writes that; "It has been nearly eight months that I have been living under virtual house arrest, in a prison without any facilities. I have been asked continuously by the government to leave this country. When they saw it was pointless trying to destroy my mind, they attempted to destroy my body."
According to her letter, even though it was clear that she was in need of a cardiologist, her condition was still ignored at the hospital in Delhi. Only a few days later, when her condition was considered so severe that she was likely to have a heart attack, she was allowed to see a doctor who prescribed her some medicine. After taking this medicine her condition worsened and she fainted. That same night she was admitted to the hospital where she was told that she needed to spend two to three weeks under intensive care. However, disregarding the doctor's suggestion, after three days of being in the Cardiac Care Unit she was taken by officials to the Minister of External Affairs who asked her to leave the country immediately. The shock of the news made her blood pressure rise to 220/120 and she was rushed again to the hospital, but the doctors had been instructed not to admit her. She said: ‘I had no help at all’.
Taslima Nasrin has suffered tremendously both physically and mentally. Her blood pressure is now impossible to control, and the doctors say it is due to stress which she must avoid at all costs. "How can I not be stressed? I received the extension of my resident's permit, but the status quo continues." Due to the lack of medical care, Taslima has now developed a heart disease called hypertrophy, and hypertensive retinopathy. The hypertensive retinopathy will eventually cause her to go blind. The blood pressure, if uncontrolled for even two months, can destroy the heart, kidneys and eyes. "I used to call this the torture chamber. I gradually came to realize that it was the chamber of death instead."
Taslima Nasrin wishes to leave the country as soon as possible in the hope that she will be free from stress if she is to have any chance at recovery. She requested a visit to her apartment in Kolkata to collect a few important documents she would need; that, too, has been denied.
The suspicion that she has deliberately been denied health care is repulsive. Taking her health condition into account, GHRD strongly urges this matter to be dealt with immediately. It is up to the Indian Government to guarantee Taslima a healthy and safe life while she is a resident in their country. In addition, we would like to encourage international organisations, governments and other NGOs to highlight the plight of Ms Nasrin, and ultimately to pressurise the government of India to take action.
*GHRD is an International, non-governmental organisation which strives for the protection of basic human rights throughout the world, as well as encouraging international awareness towards disregarded human rights violations.
Global Human Rights Defence
The Hague
URGENT APPEAL: [UA-IN-18.03.2008].
Dear Friends,
Global Human Rights Defence (GHRD) would like to express its sincere sympathy concerning the continuous sufferings of human rights activist Taslima Nasrin.
Ms. Nasrin, whose Indian visa recently was renewed for another six months, has sent GHRD a letter telling us that she is currently suffering from severe health problems due to denied medical attention. The author writes that; "It has been nearly eight months that I have been living under virtual house arrest, in a prison without any facilities. I have been asked continuously by the government to leave this country. When they saw it was pointless trying to destroy my mind, they attempted to destroy my body."
According to her letter, even though it was clear that she was in need of a cardiologist, her condition was still ignored at the hospital in Delhi. Only a few days later, when her condition was considered so severe that she was likely to have a heart attack, she was allowed to see a doctor who prescribed her some medicine. After taking this medicine her condition worsened and she fainted. That same night she was admitted to the hospital where she was told that she needed to spend two to three weeks under intensive care. However, disregarding the doctor's suggestion, after three days of being in the Cardiac Care Unit she was taken by officials to the Minister of External Affairs who asked her to leave the country immediately. The shock of the news made her blood pressure rise to 220/120 and she was rushed again to the hospital, but the doctors had been instructed not to admit her. She said: ‘I had no help at all’.
Taslima Nasrin has suffered tremendously both physically and mentally. Her blood pressure is now impossible to control, and the doctors say it is due to stress which she must avoid at all costs. "How can I not be stressed? I received the extension of my resident's permit, but the status quo continues." Due to the lack of medical care, Taslima has now developed a heart disease called hypertrophy, and hypertensive retinopathy. The hypertensive retinopathy will eventually cause her to go blind. The blood pressure, if uncontrolled for even two months, can destroy the heart, kidneys and eyes. "I used to call this the torture chamber. I gradually came to realize that it was the chamber of death instead."
Taslima Nasrin wishes to leave the country as soon as possible in the hope that she will be free from stress if she is to have any chance at recovery. She requested a visit to her apartment in Kolkata to collect a few important documents she would need; that, too, has been denied.
The suspicion that she has deliberately been denied health care is repulsive. Taking her health condition into account, GHRD strongly urges this matter to be dealt with immediately. It is up to the Indian Government to guarantee Taslima a healthy and safe life while she is a resident in their country. In addition, we would like to encourage international organisations, governments and other NGOs to highlight the plight of Ms Nasrin, and ultimately to pressurise the government of India to take action.
*GHRD is an International, non-governmental organisation which strives for the protection of basic human rights throughout the world, as well as encouraging international awareness towards disregarded human rights violations.
Global Human Rights Defence
Monday, March 17, 2008
Sexual Apartheid, Political Islam and Women's Rights
To see video of speeches at the March 10 seminar commemorating International Women's Day:
Maryam Namazie's speech entitled: Challenges facing the women’s liberation movement
Maryam Namazie's speech entitled: Challenges facing the women’s liberation movement
Transcript is here.
Mina Ahadi's speech entitled: Significance of hejab and stoning for political Islam and the resistance against it
Houzan Mahmoud's speech entitled: Women pioneering the struggle for secularism and ending gender apartheid in the Middle East
Louise Couling's speech entitled: Experiences as a woman trade unionist
Pictures of the event:
Mina Ahadi's speech entitled: Significance of hejab and stoning for political Islam and the resistance against it
Houzan Mahmoud's speech entitled: Women pioneering the struggle for secularism and ending gender apartheid in the Middle East
Louise Couling's speech entitled: Experiences as a woman trade unionist
Pictures of the event:
Friday, March 14, 2008
Mehdi Kazemi must be granted refuge!
From Facebook Save Mehdi Kazemi Group
In case you haven't heard, Mehdi Kazemi is a gay Iranian national who studied abroad in the UK. Previously, while he was at his home in Iran, he and another boy began having a relationship. They kept in contact while Mehdi studied abroad in the UK. However, Mehdi's boyfriend was caught with another man by the Iranian government.
Homosexuality is a capital offense in Iran. This is the same country that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said had no homosexuals. Mehdi's boyfriend told the Iranian government Mehdi's name under torture, and was then executed for being gay.The Iranian government is currently looking for Mehdi Kazemi, who's student visa recently expired. He applied for asylum in the UK and was denied. He then fled, fearing for his life, to Germany and then the Netherlands. He applied for asylum there, but a European Union law called the Dublin Treaty prevents people from applying for asylum in more than one EU country.The United Kingdom has a history of deporting gay Iranian youths back to their home countries, where they are tortured and executed.
Defend Kazemi's right to asylum. He, Pegah Emambakhsh, and all those facing deportation to Iran have to be granted refuge and protection.
No deportations to the Islamic regime of Iran!
In case you haven't heard, Mehdi Kazemi is a gay Iranian national who studied abroad in the UK. Previously, while he was at his home in Iran, he and another boy began having a relationship. They kept in contact while Mehdi studied abroad in the UK. However, Mehdi's boyfriend was caught with another man by the Iranian government.
Homosexuality is a capital offense in Iran. This is the same country that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said had no homosexuals. Mehdi's boyfriend told the Iranian government Mehdi's name under torture, and was then executed for being gay.The Iranian government is currently looking for Mehdi Kazemi, who's student visa recently expired. He applied for asylum in the UK and was denied. He then fled, fearing for his life, to Germany and then the Netherlands. He applied for asylum there, but a European Union law called the Dublin Treaty prevents people from applying for asylum in more than one EU country.The United Kingdom has a history of deporting gay Iranian youths back to their home countries, where they are tortured and executed.
Defend Kazemi's right to asylum. He, Pegah Emambakhsh, and all those facing deportation to Iran have to be granted refuge and protection.
No deportations to the Islamic regime of Iran!
Galloway's Propaganda? Anti-gay?
Sex abuse allegations – where's the evidence?
Mehdi Kazemi's boyfriend defamed
LONDON, 13 March 2008
George Galloway MP is accused of mouthing "the propaganda of the Iranian dictatorship" after he claimed on the Channel 5 TV talk show The Wright Stuff this morning that the boyfriend of gay asylum seeker Mehdi Kazemi was executed for sex crimes (see full transcript below).
The criticism comes from the gay human rights group, OutRage!.
"We are calling on George Galloway to explain the source of his claim that Mehdi Kazemi's boyfriend had committed sex crimes and this was the reason he was executed," said OutRage! spokesperson, Brett Lock.
Mr Galloway also denied that Iran executes homosexuals.
"Neither OutRage! nor any other human rights group has seen any evidence to suggest that Mr Kazemi's partner was a rapist or sex-abuser."
"George Galloway has made this claim. He should now produce the evidence."
"This looks like the Iranian propaganda. The homophobic tyrants in Tehran frequently defame political, religious, and sexual dissidents with false claims of rape, alcoholism, drug-taking and hooliganism.
But in this case, not even the Iranian authorities have made these allegations against Mehdi Kazemi's boyfriend," noted Mr Lock.
"Furthermore, Mr Galloway's claim that gay people are not executed in Iran is refuted by every reputable human rights body, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. Iran has the death penalty for homosexuality and gay people are often tortured to make confessions.
They are hanged in public by the barbaric slow strangulation method which is deliberately designed to maximise and prolong the suffering of the victim," said Mr Lock.
TRANSCRIPT
GG: The Independent has a story about Peers calling upon the Home Secretary to halt the deportation of a gay Iranian. In part this is being used as part of the on-going propaganda against Iran. All the papers seem to imply that you get executed in Iran for being gay.
That's not true.
MW: His boyfriend was hung though, wasn't he?
GG: Yes, but nor being gay. For uh, committing sex crimes, uh, against young men.
MW: Right...
GG: I mean, I'm against execution for any reason in any place, but it is important to avoid that propaganda.
MW: So you're saying that his guy they want to deport should be deported because there is no risk of his sexuality.. or he shouldn't be deported because there is at risk?
GG: He should not be deported not least because after all this Iranian propaganda he will be accused of being the source, or one of the sources. It would be ridiculous to deport him, and I don't think he will be deported now.
FYI, Bahram Soroush was interviewed on More4 TV last week defending Kazemi's right to asylum.
Mehdi Kazemi's boyfriend defamed
LONDON, 13 March 2008
George Galloway MP is accused of mouthing "the propaganda of the Iranian dictatorship" after he claimed on the Channel 5 TV talk show The Wright Stuff this morning that the boyfriend of gay asylum seeker Mehdi Kazemi was executed for sex crimes (see full transcript below).
The criticism comes from the gay human rights group, OutRage!.
"We are calling on George Galloway to explain the source of his claim that Mehdi Kazemi's boyfriend had committed sex crimes and this was the reason he was executed," said OutRage! spokesperson, Brett Lock.
Mr Galloway also denied that Iran executes homosexuals.
"Neither OutRage! nor any other human rights group has seen any evidence to suggest that Mr Kazemi's partner was a rapist or sex-abuser."
"George Galloway has made this claim. He should now produce the evidence."
"This looks like the Iranian propaganda. The homophobic tyrants in Tehran frequently defame political, religious, and sexual dissidents with false claims of rape, alcoholism, drug-taking and hooliganism.
But in this case, not even the Iranian authorities have made these allegations against Mehdi Kazemi's boyfriend," noted Mr Lock.
"Furthermore, Mr Galloway's claim that gay people are not executed in Iran is refuted by every reputable human rights body, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. Iran has the death penalty for homosexuality and gay people are often tortured to make confessions.
They are hanged in public by the barbaric slow strangulation method which is deliberately designed to maximise and prolong the suffering of the victim," said Mr Lock.
TRANSCRIPT
GG: The Independent has a story about Peers calling upon the Home Secretary to halt the deportation of a gay Iranian. In part this is being used as part of the on-going propaganda against Iran. All the papers seem to imply that you get executed in Iran for being gay.
That's not true.
MW: His boyfriend was hung though, wasn't he?
GG: Yes, but nor being gay. For uh, committing sex crimes, uh, against young men.
MW: Right...
GG: I mean, I'm against execution for any reason in any place, but it is important to avoid that propaganda.
MW: So you're saying that his guy they want to deport should be deported because there is no risk of his sexuality.. or he shouldn't be deported because there is at risk?
GG: He should not be deported not least because after all this Iranian propaganda he will be accused of being the source, or one of the sources. It would be ridiculous to deport him, and I don't think he will be deported now.
FYI, Bahram Soroush was interviewed on More4 TV last week defending Kazemi's right to asylum.
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