CAT/C/60/D/662/2015
the Islamic Republic of Iran. 1 In 1992, he left the Islamic Republic of Iran and travelled to
India, where he came into contact with the Baptist Greater Grace Fellowship and converted
to Christianity in 1996.2 In 2000, he met a Swiss woman in Mumbai, and they became a
couple. In 2001, the couple moved to Switzerland and subsequently had three children. In
the beginning, the complainant accompanied his partner to mass each week at the Catholic
church in the canton of Ticino. After the couple separated in 2006, he lost his residence
permit and had to leave Switzerland.
2.2
On 31 July 2007, he filed an application for asylum with the Federal Office for
Migration (now the State Secretariat for Migration), in which he claimed that he would be
at risk of persecution in the Islamic Republic of Iran because of his conversion to
Christianity. On 10 July 2008, his application for asylum was denied by the State
Secretariat for Migration. His appeal against that decision was denied by the Federal
Administrative Court on 16 December 2008. The Swiss authorities found that his scanty
knowledge of Christianity showed that he did not actually hold religious convictions and
that his alleged conversion was not credible.3 On 1 July 2009, the complainant petitioned
for a reconsideration of his case. The State Secretariat for Migration denied that petition on
11 November 2009, and the Federal Administrative Court did so on 3 March 2010. 4
2.3
The complainant states that, during the course of the asylum application procedure,
he has communicated with members of the Episcopalian faith who have visited the asylum
centre. Since that time, he regularly attends meetings of the Charismatic Catholic church in
Lucerne, where he reads the Bible and attends services and round-table discussions. He also
meets from time to time with Iranian nationals who are interested in Christianity and
encourages them to convert. He also states that he has participated on several occasions in
political demonstrations in the State party,5 has attended meetings of groups that are critical
of Islam and has published articles criticizing the Islamic Republic of Iran on his website 6
and on social media. In addition, he manages the website of the Swiss branch of the Iranian
Socialist Party and provides technical support for the websites of a number of other
opposition parties and groups. As examples, he cites the Iranian Proactive Centre and the
Iranian Secular Democrats Organization. 7
2.4
On 15 April 2013, the complainant filed a second application for asylum. He stated
that he had converted to Christianity and had attended meetings of the Charismatic Catholic
church, that he had spoken with other Iranians about his decision to leave Islam and had
invited them to follow the Christian faith, that he had participated in protests against the
Iranian regime and that he had posted critical articles on his website. 8
2.5
On 16 October 2014, the State Secretariat for Migration denied the second
application for asylum. The complainant filed an appeal against that decision with the
Federal Administrative Court. On 26 January 2015, the Court denied the complainant’s
appeal and ordered him to leave Switzerland before 26 February 2015. In their decisions,
the Secretariat and the Court stated that the complainant’s second application was
essentially based on the same claims and that, in the course of the first asylum application
process, they had both reached the conclusion that the complainant’s sparse knowledge
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2
The complainant states that this information was given to the Swiss authorities during his interview
on 28 July 2014.
The complainant has supplied a copy of a baptismal certificate dated 19 June 1996.
The complaint is not accompanied by copies of the application for asylum or of these decisions. The
information has been taken from an English-language summary of the decision of the State Secretariat
for Migration of 16 October 2014 that was provided by the complainant.
The complaint is not accompanied by any documentation or supplementary information in that regard.
The complainant refers to only one demonstration in front of the Iranian Embassy in Bern in 2010,
however.
The Internet address of the site is: www.persia2day.com.
The complainant has provided a letter dated 12 November 2014 from the Iranian Proactive Centre
that confirms that he has been an active member of the Centre since 2013.
According to the English-language summary of the decision of 16 October 2014 of the State
Secretariat for Migration provided by the complainant, he submitted as evidence a confirmation of his
membership in the Iranian Socialist Party (in Switzerland), screenshots of his website and a CD-ROM
concerning his conversion.
GE.17-12101