LONDON, May 21 (UPI) -- An Iranian homosexual facing a death sentence in Iran won an asylum appeal Wednesday in England following intervention from the home secretary, officials said.
Mehdi Kazemi, 20, arrived in London to attend college. Iranian officials executed his companion in April 2006. Kazemi sought asylum in England and the Netherlands.
"I wish to inform the secretary of state that I did not come to the U.K. to claim asylum," Kazemi said in an open letter to the British government. "I came here to study and return to my country. But in the past few months my situation back home has changed. The Iranian authorities have found out that I am a homosexual and they are looking for me."
British Home Secretary Jacqui Smith intervened in the case following a petition circulated by the British Parliament, The Independent said.
Liberal Democrat lawmaker Simon Hughes expressed his support for the move.
"As I have argued over the last 18 months, the Home Office should not send gay and lesbian people back to countries where they will be at risk of persecution, torture or death," Hughes said.
