internet freedom / anti censorship groups in ireland? (1 Viewer)

[bohs punks]

i' m trying to help an iranian man at the minute, he has been turned down for asylum at initial interview and we are trying to sort out extra info for his appeal etc.

he was running an internet service in iran and refused to use the censoring / filtering software the religous authorities wanted him to use, his servers were then seized, his business closed down and he went into hiding. he was subsquantly sentenced to ten years in jail and 74 lashes and fled to ireland.

at his interview his case is being accepted as factual - they are not disputing his sentence, documents etc etc but say that as he knew the law and still went ahead with the non censored isp he is not fleeing persecution but prosecution ie that the censorship law applies to all not just certain groups listed under the convention and he broke the law is all. he says his actions were political and that is why he is in fear etc.

anyway does anyone know of any activist groups in ireland who are focussed on internet freedoms etc who would be up to date on the thinkings around freedom of expression and particularly human rights legislation etc and the censoring of the net in countries such as iran etc etc??

any help appreaciated

 

[nofunchee]

i' m trying to help an iranian man at the minute, he has been turned down for asylum at initial interview and we are trying to sort out extra info for his appeal etc.

he was running an internet service in iran and refused to use the censoring / filtering software the religous authorities wanted him to use, his servers were then seized, his business closed down and he went into hiding. he was subsquantly sentenced to ten years in jail and 74 lashes and fled to ireland.

at his interview his case is being accepted as factual - they are not disputing his sentence, documents etc etc but say that as he knew the law and still went ahead with the non censored isp he is not fleeing persecution but prosecution ie that the censorship law applies to all not just certain groups listed under the convention and he broke the law is all. he says his actions were political and that is why he is in fear etc.

anyway does anyone know of any activist groups in ireland who are focussed on internet freedoms etc who would be up to date on the thinkings around freedom of expression and particularly human rights legislation etc and the censoring of the net in countries such as iran etc etc??

any help appreaciated

http://www.digitalrights.ie/

 

[Gambra]

Irish Citizens for Trustworthy Evoting: http://evoting.cs.may.ie/index.shtml
The Irish Council for Civil Liberties: http://www.iccl.ie/
Irish Free Software Organisation: http://www.ifso.ie/

 

[Anarchafem]

First he wont be the first to be turned down for initial interview in over 90% of cases asylum seekers are, he should be able to appeal the decision which will more than likely be refused then he will be given the three options which is deportation, repatriation order( voluntary deportation) and humanitarian leave to remain which he should apply for usually now with fast tracking of cases this takes about 3 months. If all this fails he can if a barrister will apply for an injunction against the deportation order then Judical Review which can take up to a year to see. If he is with refugee legal service they dont ever take on Judical reviews and usually then the case may be taken to a private solicitor which hopefully wont be a rip off merchant.

I am just talking from what I know and have experienced in other cases although they have been from Nigeria and not Iran.

You can get in touch with Residents Against Racism which have a 24 hr helpline 0876662060/0877974622 and they can put him in touch with solicitors who are fair and wont rip him off and they have contacts with alot of NGO's and other organisations that may be able to help out.

 

[bohs punks]

Cheers for the help etc. He's with rls allright but they seem to be swamped with cases, he is gettign to meet them before his appeal hearing which is something but had no access prior to his iniital hearing.

The stats re the initial hearings and appeals are pretty fucked up all right, emphasis seems to be on finding any reason why the refugee act doesnt apply etc. And the interpretors at the interviews vary hugely, they seem to have a particular diffuclty with kurdish cases.

the humanitarian cases seem to be taking ages still for countries not listed for fast tracking but people are defo getting the initial hearings and appeals much quicker than 12 months ago making it harder for people to get support in the community.

didnt know there was non rip off solicitors working in this area- this is a great piece of info - thanks.

 

[bohs punks]

in iran the laws are mad, eg you can get up to 3 years in jail for spreading pessimism about the government - half the grumpy folk on here would be locked up!

 

[Gambra]

Irish Citizens for Trustworthy Evoting: http://evoting.cs.may.ie/index.shtml
The Irish Council for Civil Liberties: http://www.iccl.ie/
Irish Free Software Organisation: http://www.ifso.ie/

I only just realised my links have nothing to do with the above story!! sorry!!

 

[La La]

in iran the laws are mad, eg you can get up to 3 years in jail for spreading pessimism about the government

crazy, isnt it?

a man in China was just released from prison last week after serving a 16 year sentence.

he had been caught splashing paint on a Mao portrait during the Tinanamen massacre.