Advance unedited version CCPR/C/133/D/2510/2014 statement that if he was a “40 to 50 per cent Christian” in 2015, he was a “99 per cent Christian” at the moment, and found that the author’s credibility had been weakened by this statement because he stated already in 2015 at the hearing before the Board that his conversion was genuine. The Board also noted that the author was not able to explain in a convincing manner why he had chosen the Protestant branch of Christianity, given that he declared that he had accompanied some friends to an Apostolic church, and that this was the reason why he had chosen that branch. He made this choice despite his statement that he had been familiar with the different branches of Christianity already in his country of origin, for which reason he ought to have made a reflected choice. 2.16 Moreover, the Board took into account the fact that the author’s knowledge about Christianity appeared to be something he had learned by heart and that he seemed uncertain about some of the aspects of Christianity that he was asked to account for. This was supported by the fact that the author declared to the Board that at the pre-departure centre where he was accommodated, “there were people who needed to be taught the questions asked by the Board to people who said that they had converted.” The author also stated that he wanted to become a pastor, for which reason it must be expected that he could give an account of his reflections and personal belief. The author’s Christian activities could not lead to a different outcome as the Board considered it as a fact that he only attended those Christian activities as social events and to be granted a basis of residence in Denmark. 2.17 Since the Refugee Appeals Board could not consider it as a fact that the author’s conversion was genuine, it could not consider as a fact either that he would intend to carry out Christian activities in case of return to the Islamic Republic of Iran. Moreover, the author did not demonstrate that he was a person of interest to the reigning authorities before his departure. The question that the Board needed to address was whether the author had rendered it probable that, because of his Christian activities in Denmark, he would be at risk of persecution or abuse if returned to the Islamic Republic of Iran. 2.18 As to publication of the author’s name and photo in several newspaper articles and his featuring in a radio broadcast, the Board noted that the newspaper articles and the radio broadcast did not focus on the author’s alleged conversion, but on the general conditions of refused asylumseekers, his activities as a boxing coach and the rules governing refused asylum-seekers’ right to possess a mobile phone. Therefore, the author was not considered to have attracted the attention of the Iranian authorities due to his appearance in the Danish media. 2.19 The Board finally noted that on 18 April 2018, the author volunteered the information to the representatives of the Iranian Embassy in Denmark that he had converted and wanted to become a pastor in Denmark. By volunteering this information, the author made the Iranian authorities aware of the fact that he had relied on conversion as his grounds for claiming asylum in Denmark, but at the same time, the Iranian authorities were also made aware that Denmark did not consider his conversion to be genuine. On this basis, and taking into account the background information,15 the Refugee Appeals Board found that, although he volunteered this information, the author did not attract the attention of the Iranian authorities in a way that makes him susceptible to persecution or abuse in case of his return to the Islamic Republic of Iran. The circumstances that the author left the country illegally and got more tattoos could not lead to a different outcome either. 15 Danish Immigration Service, Iran: House Churches and Converts, February 2018, 4/2018, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5ab8f2de4.html; United Kingdom: Home Office, Country Policy and Information Note – Iran: Christians and Christian converts, 27 February 2017, v 3.0, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58b42f774.html; and Landinfo, Report Iran: Christian converts and house churches (2) – arrests and prosecutions, 29 November 2017, available at: https://landinfo.no/wpcontent/uploads/2018/04/Iran-Christian-converts-and-house-churches-2-arrests-and-prosecutions.pdf . 5