CAT/C/47/D/312/2007
2.2
After his release, the complainant went into hiding in the Islamic Republic of Iran.
During the time that he was in hiding, two summons for him to appear before the
Revolutionary Court in Tehran were received at his house. Following the receipt of these
summons to appear at court, the complainant decided to flee Iran. The complainant applied
for asylum in Norway on 11 October 2003.
2.3
The complainant states that, once in Norway, he discovered that he had been
sentenced in absentia to five years’ imprisonment by the Revolutionary Court in Tehran, on
account of his alleged cooperation with “counter-revolutionary groups” and for “publishing
articles against the Islamic Republic”. He subsequently obtained the relevant court
documents regarding his sentence through relatives in the Islamic Republic of Iran, who
sent him copies of these documents to support his asylum application in Norway. The
complainant states that the Revolutionary Court does not normally provide copies of its
judgments, and therefore the complainant’s relatives had to pay a bribe to obtain the
documents.
2.4
On 4 January 2006 the Norwegian Immigration Authorities (UDI) decided to reject
the complainant’s application for asylum. On 18 September 2006 the Norwegian
Immigration Appeals Board (UNE) confirmed the decision to reject the complainant’s
application for asylum. The decisions were based mainly on the fact that the UDI and UNE
found that the complainant had not substantiated his concrete and individual risk of
persecution, torture or ill-treatment if returned to the Islamic Republic of Iran. However,
both bodies placed a special emphasis on a verification report conducted by the Norwegian
Embassy in Tehran, dated 5 September 2004. The verification report found that the court
documents presented by the complainant to prove that he had been sentenced in absentia to
five years’ imprisonment were false.
2.5
The complainant was ordered to leave Norway on 19 October 2006. In order to
avoid police arrest and deportation, the complainant went into hiding.
2.6
The complainant continued his journalistic activities after his arrival in Norway,
maintaining weblogs, wherein he published articles providing critical and provocative
views on political and religious topics, and in particular criticizing the Government of the
Islamic Republic of Iran. The complainant signed the weblog articles using his real name.
In addition, he gave interviews and wrote short articles for a local Norwegian newspaper.
The complainant states that both his weblogs were closed by the Iranian authorities while
he was in Norway.
2.7
Following the rejection of the complainant’s applications for asylum by the
immigration authorities, the complainant would have wished to pursue his asylum case
before the Norwegian courts. In order to pursue his case before the courts, the complainant
applied for legal aid. The complainant was denied legal aid by the Fylkesmannen on 7
December 2006, and this decision was confirmed by the administrative appeals instance,
the Justissekretariatene, on 26 January 2007. In the light of the fact that the complainant
would not be able to pursue judicial remedies without legal aid, the denial of free legal aid
to the complainant effectively barred the complainant from further pursuing his case before
the Norwegian courts.
The complaint
3.1
The complainant claims that his life would be threatened, and that he would be at
risk of imprisonment and torture if returned to the Islamic Republic of Iran, and that this
would constitute a violation of article 3 of the Convention by Norway. The claim is based
on the complainant’s activities as a journalist both while still in Iran, as well as his
continued activities as a blogger and journalist after his arrival in Norway in 2003. In
support of his claim, the complainant highlights the two summonses for him to appear
3