Foreign citizen who may face death penalty in Iran allowed to reside in Belarus

Merhdat Jamshidiyan. Photo: svaboda.org

The Belarusian Interior Ministry has allowed Iranian Merhdat Jamshidiyan to stay in the country.

When reached by belsat.eu, his wife Alena confirmed the news.

The ministry will also grant the corresponding status to him for ‘humanitarian reasons’, RFE/RL quotes Alyaksei Byahun, Head of the Citizenship and Migration Department.

Merhdat Jamshidiyan has been living in Belarus for more than 20 years and, with the exception of the last two years, he had had registration. But for the last seven years Iran has been asking to give out the man, because the state suspects of murdering his mother and brother (for the record, he was an opposition activist) in September, 2012. It should be noted that Merhdat was staying in Belarus at that moment. Even if a man is found not guilty in his homeland, he may still be executed; in Belarus, he converted to Christianity, which is considered as apostasy.

For the year to date, 902 Belarusians have signed an appeal to the authorities asking ‘not to send Merhdat to his doom’.

Belarusian authorities want to deport Iranian citizen facing death penalty at home

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