The Turkish Interior Ministry has decided to forcibly return Jamshid Hashemi, an Iranian asylum-seeker recognized by the UNHCR, to Iran, where it is feared he may face imprisonment or execution. He is currently held in the Foreigners’ Bureau of Istanbul Police Headquarters. He was detained on 24 December 1996 at Ataturk Airport in Istanbul on 24 December 1996, while attempting to leave for Madrid on a false passport. Several members of his family are reported to have been executed in Iran, and he himself was being sought by the authorities for distributing pamphlets produced by the Organization of Iranian People’s Fedayan.
