Abdul Ezedi was granted asylum by a judge who accepted he was a Christian convert, despite concerns the sex offender was a liar, court records show.
The rarely-made-public immigration tribunal court papers, obtained by media organisations after legal representations, laid bare the lengths the Afghan national went to evidence his religious conversion from Islam. It later emerged Ezedi avoided jail for sexual assault charges in 2018, as his case sparked widespread debate about the role religion plays in determining asylum claims.
The documents were released on Tuesday after the court granted submissions from the Daily Mail, the Daily Telegraph, the Times, the BBC, The Independent and the PA news agency, who argued disclosure was in the public interest. He was handed a suspended sentence at Newcastle Crown Court on January 9 2018 after pleading guilty to charges of sexual assault and exposure, instead being placed on the sex offender register for 10 years and ordered to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work.
But, during proceedings, the Home Office’s legal team said the government department did not accept Ezedi’s conversion was “genuine and long-lasting”.
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Source: MetroUK - 🏆 13. / 82 Read more »