Sweden: Asylum Seeker Who Claimed Homosexuality Convicted of Raping a Woman

Image: Jihad Watch

A Kurdish man from Iran, who was previously granted asylum in Sweden following political intervention, has now been detained on suspicion of raping a woman. The decision to allow him to remain in the country was made despite opposition from both the Swedish Migration Agency’s legal representatives and an experienced migration court judge.

Seven years ago, the man attracted significant media attention after publicly protesting the rejection of his asylum application. In an effort to pressure authorities, he appeared in multiple media outlets, where he threatened to starve himself to death and dramatically sewed his mouth shut as a form of protest against being denied permission to stay in Sweden.

Initially, the man claimed that he faced persecution in Iran due to his involvement in Kurdish nationalist and communist activities. Swedish authorities assessed these claims and ultimately rejected them, determining that he had not sufficiently demonstrated a credible risk of persecution on those grounds.

After this claim failed, the man changed his asylum narrative. He then asserted that he was homosexual and that he would face persecution in Iran because of his sexual orientation, according to reports by Samnytt. However, the Migration Agency again concluded that this new claim was not credible and that the evidence presented did not support his assertion.

Despite these assessments, three politically appointed lay judges — Kenneth Carlsson (L), Staffan Josefsson (L), and Inger Tolfes (V) — chose to intervene in the case. When the matter was reviewed by the migration court, both the Migration Agency’s lawyers and the legally trained judge maintained that the man did not meet the legal requirements for asylum.

Nevertheless, the three political jurors voted against the legal professionals. By a narrow majority, they overruled the judge and the agency’s legal position, granting the man refugee status — the strongest form of international protection available under Swedish law — as reported by Samnytt.

In a formal dissenting opinion, the presiding judge stated that the man had failed to demonstrate that it was likely he was homosexual and therefore had not established valid grounds for a residence permit. Despite this objection, the political jurors’ majority decision stood, and the man was allowed to remain in Sweden.

Now in his 40s, the man was arrested on December 21 on suspicion of raping a woman that same night. He was taken into custody on probable cause and remains detained. According to the prosecutor, the alleged victim herself contacted authorities, and the suspect was apprehended within an hour of the reported incident.

One of the jurors who supported granting asylum, Liberal Party member Staffan Josefsson, has since defended the original decision. Speaking to Samnytt, he stated:

“We jurors agreed that he should be allowed to stay. But now, as you say, he is in custody for a crime. You can’t know in advance how things will turn out. But at the time, we agreed that it was the right verdict.”

(This Article was originally published by Jihad Watch)