The Tbilisi City Court has remanded Iranian activist Mohammad Mahdi Rahimian in custody.
The Iranian citizen was detained in Tbilisi on October 12. He is a supporter of Reza Pahlavi, the US-based son of the last Shah of Iran, and has taken part in demonstrations against the current Iranian government.
On October 15, the court considered a motion filed by the Migration Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs to transfer Rahimian to the agency’s temporary accommodation facility. The defense petitioned for the detainee to be released on bail, but the court denied the request.
“In the event of deportation to Iran, his life and health will be in danger, as we know that political activists are executed in Iran,” said Rahimian’s attorney, David Golijashvili. The defense plans to challenge the ruling of the Tbilisi City Court before the appellate court.
The non-governmental organization Rights Georgia stated that the court failed to consider that Rahimian’s family has settled in Georgia, maintains a permanent residence here, and that his children attend a Georgian school.
“Unfortunately, the court did not take into account the individual circumstances of Rahimian and his family, granting the Migration Department’s motion to place him in a temporary accommodation center until the completion of deportation procedures. <…> Rights Georgia once again reminds state authorities that Rahimian faces an immediate and real threat to his life and health in the country of his citizenship, and urges them to act in accordance with the principle of non-refoulement.”
Georgia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs, for its part, maintains that Rahimian is staying in the country illegally. According to the ministry, Rahimian entered Georgia on April 22, 2022. On December 26, he applied to the Migration Department requesting international protection.
By a decision dated June 16, 2024, the ministry denied his asylum application. Rahimian challenged the decision in court, but both the Tbilisi City Court and the Court of Appeals upheld the denial. On these grounds, the ministry asserts that Rahimian lacks legal grounds to remain in Georgia.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs added that he “has the right to voluntarily leave Georgia, either to his country of origin or to a third country.”