IRANIAN DISSIDENT TO BE DEPORTED This week an immigration judge ordered the deportation of Mahnaz Samadi, an Iranian dissident, on grounds that while in Iran she was a member of a group that has since been declared to be a terrorist organization by the State Department. According to an INS spokesperson, she will be deported to a third country. Her attorney, however, says that she will be permitted to stay in the US indefinitely.
There has also been an agreement reached in her case, in which the INS will release her from detention and drop the terrorism related charges against her and she will voluntarily relinquish her claim to political asylum. She had been accused of leading rebel groups in planning “coordinated attacks designed to liberate Iran.” The INS says that she has admitted that she fraudulently obtained asylum in 1995.
Samadi’s case has received intense scrutiny from politicians. Sixty members of the House of Representatives recently sent a letter to Attorney General Janet Reno arguing that she should be released from detention. In the letter, they stated that “The persecution of those seeking to liberate their homeland violates the principles upon which this country was founded.” Many politicians believe the group Samadi was a member of, the National Council for Resistance of Iran, is a legitimate, non-terrorist, organization. The State Department, however, considers the group to be a front for the Mujahedeen Khalq, a group is says is a terrorist organization. < Back | Next > Disclaimer: This newsletter is provided as a public service and not intended to establish an attorney client relationship. Any reliance on information contained herein is taken at your own risk. | 
