CCPR/C/119/D/2338/2014 document from M. The author’s statement that he was not well during his first interview with the Danish authorities did not change the Board’s assessment and he was ordered to leave Denmark within seven days of the Board’s decision. 2.4 On 1 October 2013, the author requested the Refugee Appeals Board to reopen his case. He indicated that he had converted to Christianity and that he had been baptized on 15 September 2013,8 after having studied the religion since February 2012. He claimed that if returned to Afghanistan, he would be prosecuted for his beliefs because he had helped preach the Christian message in Denmark. As an example of such activities, the author referred to his participation in an event near the Round Tower in Copenhagen, photos of which had been posted on the Internet and were available on YouTube together with a description of their content in Farsi. On 30 October 2013, the Board rejected the author’s request.9 The Board found no basis for reopening the asylum proceedings. It reiterated the arguments made in its decision dated 31 January 2013, considered that the new asylum grounds presented by the author did not justify any modification to the Board’s previous assessment of the asylum application, as there was no information indicating that the author had participated in church activities before or after his baptism, and pointed out that the author had not explained why he had decided to convert to Christianity immediately prior to his removal to Afghanistan.10 It also indicated that the author had failed to demonstrate that the photos of the event in the Round Tower in Copenhagen had come to the attention of the Afghan authorities. In addition, it considered that the author’s presence in such photos was very limited, as he was just standing in the background. The Board further indicated that the photos had been viewed a limited number of times on YouTube. 2.5 On 9 December 2013, the author’s new counsel succeeded in having his asylum case reopened. Along with a baptism certificate issued by St. Luke’s Church, the counsel submitted a statement made by a minister at the international Presbyterian Iranian church, dated 10 November 2013, indicating that the author had regularly attended church services and Bible studies three months before his baptism. The author’s counsel further submitted another certificate dated 26 November 2013, in which the minister at the detention centre where the author was held 11 indicated that he had attended the mass held there every Thursday, starting in October 2013. The minister at the detention centre also indicated that the author had been subjected to “massive harassment” by the Muslim detainees due to his conversion to Christianity. The author’s counsel further stated that at the time of his baptism, the author was unaware that he would later be detained for the purpose of removing him to Afghanistan. A statement by a friend of the author in Denmark, dated February 2012, was also submitted. It indicated that the author and his friend had discussed Christianity on several occasions, as from the beginning of 2012. Finally, the author stated that he feared being called up for his compulsory military service upon his return to Afghanistan. 2.6 On 16 January 2014, the Refugee Appeals Board rejected the author’s asylum claim once again. It considered that his fear of being forced to perform his military service did not make him eligible for refugee status. It also considered that despite the baptism certificate and the ministers’ certificates submitted, the author had failed to substantiate that his conversion was genuine. The Board also took into account that the author had never shown any interest in religion previously, 12 and that although he was an articulate man, he failed to provide the Board with a reasonable explanation of his reasons for being baptised into Christianity. In addition, the author did not inform the Danish authorities about his interest in this religion until the time of his forcible return was approaching. Against this background and taking into account the author’s credibility issues during his initial asylum 8 9 10 11 12 The author submitted to the Board a baptism certificate issued by St. Luke’s Church. He did not submit a copy of the certificate to the Committee. The State party has provided a translation of the decision. See para. 4.5 below. The author was arrested and detained in order to be expelled. However, he does not provide any further information on the circumstances of the arrest or on the detention period. In his statement to the Board dated 8 January 2014, the author indicated that he had been born in a Muslim family, but that he was not religious. 3

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