Human rights lawyer applying for asylum in Turkey

Iran Human Rights, August 4: According to UNHCR the human rights lawyer Mohammad Mostafaei is in Turkey. According to some reports Mohammad Mostafaei might be applying for asylum.

Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, the spokesperson of Iran Human Rights, said: "We are happy that Mr. Mostafaei is out of Iran, and hope that a European country will offer him asylum soon, since he will not be safe in Turkey". Amiry-Moghaddam added: "We regret that the lawyer who has been defending minors on the death row and women sentenced to death by stoning in so many years, is subjected to the regime’s persecution. This is indicative of the seriousness of the human rights situation in Iran today

Associated Press published the following report: "The lawyer of a woman who had been sentenced to death by stoning in Iran is in Turkey and has the option of applying for asylum, the U.N.’s refugee agency said Wednesday.

The lawyer, Mohammad Mostafaei, went missing after being questioned by judicial officials at Tehran’s Evin prison for several hours on July 23, according to Amnesty International.

Mostafaei apparently surfaced in Turkey and was detained because of a passport problem after entering the country, Turkey’s Radikal newspaper said Wednesday. It gave no source for the report and there was no information on when he was detained or where he was being held. Iranian nationals do not require visas to enter Turkey.

"We are monitoring developments concerning the case," said Metin Corabatir, a UNHCR spokesman in Turkey. "The channels are open for him to apply for asylum."

A European diplomat in Ankara said Turkish authorities had contacted several Western embassies to see if they were willing to offer the lawyer asylum. The diplomat asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the case.

Turkey’s Interior Ministry, in charge of police and asylum cases, declined to comment."