Refugee claim denied for Iranian journo who wrote of a Canadian photographer’s death in Iran: The National Post
Canada's Immigration and Refugee Board has denied his refugee claim and rejected the appeal of an Iranian journalist who says he receieved death threats over an unpublished story he wrote surrounding the death of Canadian journalist in 2003.
Behzad Khalilzadeh wrote of the circumstances leading to the ultimate fate of a Canadian journalist, who he reports was raped and murdered in Iran in July 2003, but the story was never published. Instead, police threatened to kill him if he did not reveal his source, the National Post reports.
The Post writes:
Fleeing his homeland, he claimed refugee protection where he thought his actions might be best appreciated: Canada.
His reception has not been welcoming.
Canada's Immigration and Refugee Board has denied his refugee claim and rejected the appeal.
[node:ad]The Iranian government first said that Zahra Kazemi, a Montreal-based Canadian and Iranian citizen and photojournalist who died in an Iranian prison, had a stroke during questioning. Then, they said she had fallen and cracked her skull. They eventually admitted she had died from a beating, but no mention was made of rape until an Iranian doctor came forward in 2005 after fleeing Iran for Canada. The CBC gives a detailed timeline of Kazemi’s case.
The Post reports that the Immigration and Refugee Board didn’t think Iran would still be after him eight years later, and the “basic account of Ms. Kazemi’s death [having] been admitted.”
Read the rest of the Post's story here.
