Imran Firasat has become a hot potato. He has not made
it easy for himself. It is dangerous to challenge Islam. Spain and Norway are
doing everything they can to get rid of him.
IMRAN FIRASAT, a Pakistani-born ex-Muslim, was given
asylum in Spain because of threats to his life for converting to Christianity
Firasat obtained political asylum in Spain in October
2006 because of death threats against him in both Pakistan and Indonesia for
leaving the Islamic faith and marrying an Indonesian non-Muslim woman.
Imran Firasat, sought asylum in Norway in 2014.
Spanish authorities, however, took
measures to deport Firasat in December 2012, after he released a one-hour
amateur film entitled, "The Innocent Prophet: The Life
of Mohammed from a Different Point of View." The
movie, which was posted on YouTube, purports to raise awareness of the dangers
of Islam to Western Civilization. (YouTube has issued a warning about this
video, and has identified the following content as being potentially offensive
or inappropriate. Press
Fortsett-Continue)
Shortly after Firasat's film was released, Spanish Foreign Minister José
Manuel García-Margallo and Spanish Interior Minister Jorge Fernández Díaz
initiated a process to review his refugee status.
It seems as if much is predetermined here. This is
similar to fraud and conspiracy, says Samuel Nunberg in the US Mediterranean
East Forum. Firasat receive broad international support in the fight against
extradition to Pakistan.
- It would have been no case against him if he had
criticized Christianity or Judaism, this happens because he criticizes Islam, says
the American lawyer Samuel Nunberg in Mediterranean East Forum to day. American
supporters believe the case against Imran Firasat sets a frightening precedent
in Europe.
A Foreign Ministry document, dated November 27, 2012, stated that
"the consequences of the release of a video with such [anti-Islamic]
characteristics are highly worrisome and constitute a real risk for Spanish
interests because the author of the video identifies himself as a 'Spanish
citizen.'"
Fernández issued an order on December 21, 2012 to deport Firasat based
on Article 44 of the Law on Asylum and Protection,
which allows the state to revoke the refugee status of "persons who
constitute a threat to Spanish security." The deportation order stated
that Firasat constituted a "persistent source of problems due to his
constant threats against the Koran and Islam in general."
Firasat appealed the deportation order at the National Court [Audiencia
Nacional], arguing that the expression of his views about Islam fall within the
constitutional right to free speech.
But the National Court rejected Firasat's appeal. A ruling dated October
3, 2013 states:
Now the Supreme Court has not only confirmed the National Court's
ruling, but it has gone one step farther. Its ruling states:
The right to the freedom of expression does not
guarantee the right to intolerant manifestations or expressions that infringe
against religious freedom, that have the character of blasphemy or that seek to
offend religious convictions and do not contribute to the public debate."
Spanish
Supreme Court: Islam critic Imran Firasat must leave
This paragraph is strangely similar to an international blasphemy law being promoted by the Organization
of Islamic Cooperation, a bloc of 57 Muslim
countries dedicated to implementing a worldwide ban on "negative
stereotyping of Islam."
Warning of potential trouble ahead for the exercise of free speech in
Spain, two judges—Manuel Campos and Isabella Perelló—dissented from the
majority opinion. They signed a statement in which they ask whether the source
of the danger to national security is in the actions of Firasat, or in the
reactions of Islamic fundamentalists. They write:
"The pernicious effects against national security do not strictly
derive from the conduct of the refugee, but rather from the violent reactions
of third persons."
Although Firasat can now be deported, the court says he and his family
will not be delivered "to a country where there is danger to life or
freedom." It remains unclear whether Firasat will appeal the Spanish high
court ruling at the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). The Strasbourg-based
ECHR enforces the European Convention on Human
Rights and its
jurisdiction is compulsory and binding for all 47 member states of the Council of Europe.
In a December 2012 interview with the online newspaper International Business Times [IBT], Firasat said he has
received far more threats from the Spanish government than from angry Muslims.
He said:
"Seven years ago I was granted refugee status in Spain for the
reason that I used to criticize Islam. Since then I have taken the fight
against Islam very far. And my right to freedom of expression was always
respected by this great country. But now suddenly for doing the same thing
which I have been doing for the last seven years, I have been threatened by the
authorities [and told] that my refugee status will be revoked. I will be
deported back to Pakistan where the death penalty for blasphemy is waiting for
me."
Imran Firasat, sought
asylum in Norway in 2014.
After Imran surrendered himself in Norway and sought asylum, he was quietly arrested by the Oslo police.
The Norwegian authorities seems to be in a rushed to get rid of him and
decided to deport him back to Spain without putting him through the standard
protocol of producing him before a judge before the deportation can proceed.
In Norway the Islamist
Mullah Krekar have a good life, and being taken
care of by his lawyer. This shows
the great fear of Islam in Norway and in Europe. To challenge the Islamic
states, we have done some experiences in Norway and Denmark with the Muhammad
cartoons, so the future of Europe does not look bright.
Imran Firasat, as a Muslim who has converted to Christianity, has no such luck as
Mullah Krekar. Imran can get a death penalty in Pakistan and Indonesia.
In September 2008, Krekar released a fatwa to kill Mariwan Halabjaee, a
Norway based Iraqi Kurdish author, for writing the book, Sex, Sharia and Women in the
History of Islam. Also in 2010, he threatened to kill Erna
Solberg, currently the Prime Minister of Norway, a threat he repeated in 2012
in case he would be deported from Norway. (read more about Mullah
Krekar on Wikipedia)
Despite all these,
Norway, for more than a decade, has refused to extradite Mullah Krekar to Iraq,
fearing that he may face death penalty for his crimes in Iraq.
Now he has sued the Norwegian state for 200,000
crowns, he claims that the state has destroyed his good name and reputation.
An International-Solidarity-Facebook was
created for Imran Firasat.
The last we heard from this
Facebook page, that he is back in Spain, not handed over to Pakistan so far,
and has close contact with his lawyers.
