The Foundation for Democracy in Iran is has called on the government of Belgium not to carry out its plans to expel three families of Iranian refugees. At least one of the refugees, former Iranian army officer Mohammad Reza Hedayat, risks imprisonment and execution if forcibly returned to Iran.
The Belgian Interior Ministry has twice notified Mr. Heydayat of the expulsion order, despite his repeated requests to the Belgian authorities for political asylum.
Mr. Heydayat and his family initially applied for political asylum after arriving in Belgium seven years ago, but his application was denied on grounds he could not support his claim to have worked for former Prime Minister Shahpour Bakhtiar while in Iran.
Islamic Republic agents were convicted last year in a French court of having assassinated Mr. Bakhtiar in France in Aug. 1991, and have also murdered a top Bakhtiar aide in France, Abdel Rahman Boroumand. Members of Bakhtiar's organization, known as the National Movement of Iranian Resistance (NAMIR), have periodically been rounded up inside Iran and executed by the authorities.
In a subsequent appeal, Mr. Heydayat appealed for asylum on humanitarian grounds, but that request was also denied. Two other families have been served with expulsion orders along with Mr. Heydayat.
The Foundation is concerned that the attempt to deport Mr. Hedayat is part of a larger effort by the Islamic Republic authorities to pressure European governments to review their long-standing acceptance of Iranian asylum seekers.
If expelled to Iran, Mr. Heydayat risks arrest and execution because of his political beliefs. The Foundation appeals to the Belgian government not to send Mr. Heydayat to his death.
The Foundation for Democracy in Iran is a private, non-profit corporation registered in the State of Maryland. Contact: Kenneth R. Timmerman, Executive Director (exec@iran.org). FDI materials, including the FDI Newswire, are available free-of-charge via the Internet at http://www.iran.org/.