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Friday, September 10th, was the celebration of Eid, ending the month of Ramadan, and a large group of worshippers gathered at the Imam Hussein Islamic Centre in Earlwood.  With them once again was the familiar figure of Sheikh Mansour Leghaei, offering encouragement and spiritual guidance to the group.  But this time he was (sadly) not with them in body but was joining in via the miracle of Skype.

In point of fact this was not the first time that Sheikh Mansour has addressed the congregation at the Imam Hussein Centre since he was deported on June 27th, 2010.  Current technology does in fact make it entirely straightforward for Mansour to be able to teach and to interact with the Earlwoood congregation whenever they choose – and it’s all done from the comfort of his study in Esfahan.

Rick Fenely reports for the Sydney Morning Herald

On Saturday June 26th we had a formal farewell at the Imam Husain Islamic Centre.  More than 1000 people crammed in – people of all faiths and cultures from across the region. On Sunday morning Mansour joined us at Holy Trinity Church to farewell his many supporters there.  That evening, despite Sheikh’s attempts to dissuade us from coming to the airport, more than 300 of us showed up to make our final farewells.

It was an emotional time.  Indeed, I find it hard to watch the video coverage below without the tears welling up again.

The story was also covered briefly on Ten News. You can see that here.

The fight does not end here. The Australian Government has until Ocotber 21st to respond to the United Nations Human Rights Committee and explain why they charged, judged and executed Sheikh Mansour without ever telling him what he’d done wrong.

If you have any ideas as to how we can put pressure on the Australian government to respond to the United Nations, submit them to the Fighting Fathers Forum (nb. you’ll need to use VIP code ‘NO HOMERS’ to register).

This is a post I had hoped to avoid making.  There will be a farewell for Sheikh Mansour Leghaei, his wife Marziah, and his daugther Fatima, on Saturday June 26 at 8pm.

The gathering will take place at the Imam Husain Islamic Centre (6 Lang Road, Earlwood). It will not include dinner as the team felt that numbers would be impossible to estimate and probably impossible to cater for.

Everyone is invited. It will be a painful time in so many ways, and yet we intend to close this chapter of our campaign with dignity and thankfulness, believing that the battle for Mansour’s fundamental human rights can yet be won, and that our relationship with him is by no means over, even if, for a time, he will not be with us in person.

The following is an open letter from the supporters of Sheikh Mansour Leghaei to Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.

The Hon. Kevin Rudd, MP
Prime Minister of Australia
Australian Parliament
Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, 2600

June 3, 2010

Dear Prime Minister

Re: Request to prevent the deportation of Sheikh Mansour Leghaei in accordance with the communication of the United Nations Human Rights Committee of 21 April, 2010.

We are supporters of Sheikh Mansour Leghaei, a moderate Iranian cleric who leads the 1500-member Imam Husain Islamic Centre in Earlwood and is the elected head of the local Interfaith Committee.

As you will be aware, Dr Leghaei and his family have lived peacefully in Australia for 16 years. His application for Permanent Residency in Australia has been denied due to two Adverse Security Assessments issued by ASIO in 1997 and 2004.

A leading proponent of interfaith dialogue and religious tolerance in Sydney, Dr Leghaei strenuously denies he has ever been a threat to Australia’s national security.

Contrary to the right to a fair hearing enshrined in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which Australia is a signatory, Dr Leghaei has never been informed of the nature of the allegations against him, either by ASIO or in any of the court proceedings he has brought to challenge ASIO’s assertion. In one of these hearings, a judge of the Federal Court of Australia observed that Dr Leghaei’s right to procedural fairness had been reduced to ‘nothingness’.

Australia’s failure to guarantee a fair trial is at odds with much of the liberal democratic world: in Britain and Europe, for example, human rights law requires that a person always be told the substance of the allegations. The denial of a fair hearing is also foreign to our ancient common law tradition, which requires that a person can challenge the evidence against them in an adversarial process.

Where a person is unable to see or test the evidence, it cannot be determined whether they are actually a risk to national security or not. Deporting Dr Leghaei in such circumstances would be internationally unlawful.

On April 21, the United Nations Human Rights Committee issued a request, under rule 92 of its rules of procedure, that the Australian Government not deport Dr Leghaei and his accompanying dependents to Iran while their case is under consideration by the committee.

However in contravention of this request, the Minister for Immigration, Senator Chris Evans, announced on May 17 that Dr Leghaei would not be granted a visa and that he was expected to make preparations to leave the country by June 28.

This breach of Dr Leghaei’s human rights has provoked concern among the international human rights community. Support for his case has now been received from, amongst others: Bishop Desmond Tutu of Cape Town; Bishop Riah Abu El-Assal, Bishop of Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon; Máiread Corrigan-Maguire, Nobel Peace Prize laureate; Dr Chandra Muzaffar, Malaysian political scientist; Professor Hans Köchler, President of the International Progress Organization; Dr Norman Finkelstein, American political scientist, and Bishop George Browning, retired Bishop of Canberra and Goulburn.

Dr Leghaei and his family have also received thousands of letters of support from members of the Anglican, Catholic, Indigenous and Muslim communities. His removal from Australia will result in the closure of the Centre and deprive 1500 Muslims of a leadership which preaches tolerance and peace.

Today more than 1,000 concerned Australians from different community backgrounds have travelled to Canberra to deliver this letter to you.

We applaud your Government’s stated commitment to human rights and global governance. At a time when it is more important than ever to build bridges between people of different faiths, we call on you to ensure that the principles of human rights and the right to a fair trial are upheld in this individual case.

Therefore we respectfully request that you provide an assurance to Dr Leghaei that he will not be removed from Australia until the UN Human Rights Committee has finally determined his case on its merits.

Join us on Sunday March28th for the Unity in the Community BBQ – calling on our government for a fair go for Sheikh Mansour Leghaei.

This is a chance for all of Sheikh Mansour’s supporters – Muslims, Christians, people of other faiths and people of no specific faith – to come together to express their concern for the man and his family.

Festivities will be held at Steel Park (Illawarra Road, Marrickville) beginning at 11am and continuing until 4pm.  Sausages will be provided, courtesy of the Imam Husain Islamic Centre but you can equally bring your own picnic (but NO alcohol please).

Download the full-sized poster by clicking here.  Print it and post it up in your  school, church, mosque or office.