UK: Woman Kiana Firouz Seeks Asylum in UK, Fears Death in Iran

Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.)
www.realcourage.org/2010/05/kiana-firouz-2/

Media and human rights blogs are reporting on the case of Kiana Firouz, an Iran lesbian actress seeking asylum in the United Kingdom.  Ms. Firouz was recently an actress in the film “Cul de Sac,” which largely addresses her life as a lesbian in Iran.  She has been denied asylum in the United Kingdom, and friends and human rights activists fear the consequences should she be returned to Iran.  In Iran, homosexuality is punishable by death.

The London Times reports: “Unfortunately for Kiana Firouz the film is not make-believe. It is based on her life. The Home Office has denied her asylum and she now faces the prospect of deportation to Iran followed by flogging, execution or both. ‘Definitely she will be killed,’ says Ramin Goudarzi Nejad, the London-based director of Cul-de-Sac. ‘She would be arrested … She would be tortured. She could face execution not for being a lesbian but for embarrassing the regime,’ said Paul Canning, editor of the website LGBT Asylum News.”

Lesbian actress fears her script ends in death — Kiana Firouz
– London Times: “A young Iranian actress named Kiana Firouz will attend the London premiere tonight of a film in which she plays a lesbian seeking asylum in Britain because the Iranian authorities are pursuing her.”

– Save the Life of LGBT Activist Kiana Firouz

– Save Kiana Firouz’s life by stopping her deport from the UK

– On Film, the trials of an Iranian lesbian activist