A doctor from Iran, who is married to an Austrian, accuses the Republic of Austria of disclosing his homosexuality to the Iranian authorities during the visa application process. That is why he is no longer safe in his home country, he says, and is demanding 275,000 euros in compensation.
“We firmly reject the allegations,” the State Department immediately responded. A statement sent Friday afternoon emphasized, “No irregularities or breaches of confidentiality on the part of our employees or the third-party service provider have been identified.”
“We are not concerned with the money, insofar as the damage caused can no longer be repaired,” the doctor’s 34-year-old husband had previously stated. His husband, who comes from a wealthy family – the couple lives in the Gänserndorf district of Lower Austria – will never be able to return to his original homeland and accept his inheritance there because he is no longer sure of his life in Iran.
threatened with the death penalty
Homosexuality is taboo in Iran, homosexual acts are severely punished and sometimes punishable by death. Several thousand gay men have been executed since the Islamic Revolution, most recently in January 2022 two men after a total of six years in prison, according to the human rights organization Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA).
The Iranian-born had fallen in love with the Austrian, the two got married in 2021 and the following year the doctor’s family would come to Vienna from Iran to celebrate. However, the visa applications of the relatives were not handled by the Austrian embassy in Tehran, but outsourced to an external service provider.
“Regular Interrogation”
His associates questioned the doctor’s father and sister in May 2022 and had them confirm that the doctor was married to a man, as stated in the application (characteristic number 31 Cg 6/23i). The interviews were probably also recorded by a camera.
Source: Krone
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