Friday 19 March 2010

Successful week of lobbying Japanese embassies and consulates

Hambastegi International Federation of Iranian Refugees(IFIR)
Press Release FJC1003

19 March 2010

Members and supporters of the Free Jamal! 2010 campaign have this week lobbied Japanese embassies and consulates in Europe, Canada and the US to demand the release of Jamal Saberi (Jalal Ahmadzade-Nouei) from detention in Japan and to revoke his deportation order to Iran.

Monday 15 March



Frankfurt, Germany - Shahnaz Moratab (IFIR) and Roya Bahrani from Iran Solidarity went to the consulate to meet Mr Jironishi Mura. After briefing Mr Mura on Jamal Saberi’s case and handing him protest letters from IFIR Mr Mura said he was committed to talk to the Japanese authorities about the case.




Berlin - Farzaneh Drakhshan contacted the Japanese embassy and sent protest letters, demanding the immediate release of Jamal and to stop his deportation order.



Düsseldorf - Mina Ahadi, Shahla Khabazadeh, Mahbube Siamardi and Ali Moradi went to the consulate and were informed that the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs is aware of Jamal Saberi’s case. The delegation demanded that steps for Jamal Saberi’s release were taken immediately.





Hamburg - Nazanin Borumand contacted the consulate in Hamburg and presented protest letters and case information to the consulate.



Copenhagen, Denmark - A group of supporters held a protest in front of the Japanese embassy in Copenhagen. Farideh Arman, spokesperson of the group met with two diplomats from the embassy and handed them protest letters from IFIR and the Worker-communist Party of Iran. They followed this up with another contact on 16th.











Vancouver, Canada - Fahimeh Sadaghi and Solyman Sigarchi went to the consulate and spoke to Mr Sasaki. They presented the protest letters and press releases of the campaign as well as the protest letter from the Free Jamal! campaign. They talked to Mr Sasaki in detail about Jamal’s situation and what could happen to him if he were to be deported to Iran. Mr Sasaki said that he would speak to the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs about Jamal’s case.


London, UK - Jalil Jalili and Patty Debonitas, campaign organiser, went to the embassy in London. They presented the Free Jamal! file with letters of protest from the campaign and other organisations, press releases and photos of Jamal’s political activities to the chief of security. Patty Debonitas had spoken to First Secretary of the embassy, Mr Yokote on 12 March who had inquired with the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and could only confirm that Jamal’s deportation was still planned to go ahead.

Lyons, France - Yadi Kouhi (IFIR) contacted the consulate and sent protest letters and information on Jamal’s case and asked that these be forwarded to the Japanese authorities.

Stockholm, Sweden - Siamak Bahari for Federation of Stockholm contacted Ms Yuchida from the Japanese embassy in Stockholm on 11 March and subsequently sent her the IFIR protest letter and information on the case.


Wednesday 17 March
Toronto, Canada - At a meeting of the ‘No one is illegal’ campaign organisation, Iraj Rezaie and Mohammad Kazemi presented Jamal Saberi’s case. Following this ‘No one is illegal’ sent a protest letter to the Canadian embassy in Japan. Mehrane Mahboubi has contacted the consulate in Toronto for a meeting.

Thursday 18 March
The Hague, Holland - Farshad Hosseini and Fereshteh Moradi (IFIR) went to the embassy and spoke to a diplomat from the political section. They were informed that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is aware of Jamal’s case and that his case is a political issue. The diplomat expressed his optimism that Jamal Saberi would not be deported but stated that Jamal’s refugee status in Japan would be decided by the Ministry of Justice.


Still to come this week is the protest in support of Jamal Saberi on Sunday, 21 March in front of the Japanese embassy in Washington DC, USA at 1pm, organised by Mission Free Iran.

Other news:
Over 500 people have now sent letters to the Ministry of Justice and the UNHCR representation in Japan. In addition dozens of people have sent letters, faxes and made calls to their local embassies and consulates protesting at the detention and intended deportation of Jamal Saberi.

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