Spain: Fate of Ex-Muslim Critic of Islam Hangs in Balance
A Spanish court is deliberating the fate of Imran Firasat, an ex-Muslim from Pakistan who faces imminent deportation.
Spain: Fate of Ex-Muslim Critic of Islam Hangs in Balance
Soeren Kern | Gatestone Institute | November 26, 2014
A Spanish court is deliberating the fate of Imran Firasat, an ex-Muslim from Pakistan who faces imminent deportation because the Spanish government has deemed his criticism of Islam to be a threat to national security.
Firasat’s lawyers, however, argue that sending him back to Pakistan or any other Muslim country would be the equivalent of a death sentence because Islamic Sharia law prescribes the penalty of death for Muslims who commit apostasy.
Firasat, now 36, obtained political asylum in Spain in 2006 because of death threats against him in both Pakistan and Indonesia for leaving the Islamic faith and marrying a non-Muslim.
But six years later, Spanish authorities initiated deportation procedures against Firasat, after he released a one-hour amateur film entitled, “The Innocent Prophet: The Life of Mohammed from a Different Point of View.” The movie, which was posted on YouTube, purports to raise awareness of the dangers that Islam poses to Western Civilization.
On December 21, 2012, Spanish Interior Minister Jorge Fernández Díaz issued an order to deport Firasat based on Article 44 of the Law on Asylum and Protection, which allows the state to revoke the refugee status of “persons who constitute a threat to Spanish security.” The deportation order stated that Firasat constituted a “persistent source of problems due to his constant threats against the Koran and Islam in general.”
Since then, Firasat’s legal team has deftly navigated the labyrinthian ways of Spain’s political and judicial systems in an effort to prevent his deportation. But Spanish public prosecutors have successfully outmaneuvered Firasat’s attorneys by changing their legal tactics, apparently in a bid to ensure that Firasat leaves Spain and never comes back.
