PRINTER'S NO. 3583
No. 706 Session of 2008
INTRODUCED BY JOSEPHS, BENNINGTON, FRANKEL, YOUNGBLOOD, LEACH,
THOMAS, SIPTROTH AND MURT, APRIL 8, 2008
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON INTERGOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS,
APRIL 8, 2008
A RESOLUTION
1 Opposing the deportation of Mehdi Kazemi.
2 WHEREAS, Mehdi Kazemi, a 19-year-old Iranian, faces
3 imprisonment, torture and execution in his homeland for
4 homosexuality; and
5 WHEREAS, A former boyfriend, executed in Tehran in 2006, had
6 reported Mr. Kazemi's name to Iranian authorities; and
7 WHEREAS, Mr. Kazemi applied for asylum in the United Kingdom,
8 where he was a student; and
9 WHEREAS, British authorities initially denied Mr. Kazemi's
10 asylum request, citing lack of proof of Iranian persecution of
11 homosexuals; and
12 WHEREAS, The European Union allows only one asylum
13 application, in one European country, per person; and
14 WHEREAS, Mr. Kazemi has fled to the Netherlands; and
15 WHEREAS, United Kingdom Home Secretary Jacqui Smith is
16 reviewing the deportation of Mr. Kazemi; therefore be it
17 RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the
1 Commonwealth of Pennsylvania oppose the deportation of Mehdi
2 Kazemi; and be it further
3 RESOLVED, That a copy of this resolution be transmitted to
4 United Kingdom Home Secretary Jacqui Smith.
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