Mehdi Kazemi: Not Yet Free

from www.dailymotion.com posted with vodpod

And just to show the breadth of stupidity out there, affecting people like Mehdi, we have a clip of George Galloway. It must be said for people outside the UK who don’t know him, that he’s not considered to be of the sane variety, and has been linked to multiple corruption scandals, alongside his publicly declared support for Saddam Hussein. Even the political party he founded has rejected him. Galloway is either wholly in denial that gay people are routinely executed for their sexual orientation, or is ignoring it for political self interest.

Sadly it also seems that the UK is not alone in having problems with institutional homophobia in its asylum system. A one person adjudication panel of the Canadian Refugee Board recently deported Kulenthiran Amirthalingam back to Malaysia, despite his having been jailed in his country for his sexual orientation and evidence showing corporal punishment for homosexuality.

Chris Huhne of the Liberal Democrats is correct – there must be an immediate moratorium on deporting gay people to Iran (which the Dutch have already implemented). Do not forget to demonstrate on Mehdi’s behalf on Saturday 22nd March at 2pm on Whitehall, London (opposite Downing Street). This issue must stay in the public eye for reasons Mehdi himself recognises in the article I just cited.