CCPR/C/125/D/2439/2014 on his wish to proselytize, it may reasonably be assumed that the author will engage in religious practices upon return to the Islamic Republic of Iran, which, in the light of the available country of origin information, will expose him to a real risk of treatment contrary to article 7 of the Covenant. 3.4 The author will be deported to the Islamic Republic of Iran irrespective of the fact that he does not hold a valid Iranian passport and thus risks being interrogated by the authorities at the airport.12 Even if the Iranian authorities are not already aware that he has converted to Christianity, there is a significant risk that this fact will be disclosed if he is arrested and questioned when entering the country without a valid passport. 3.5 The author also fears repercussions from the Iranian authorities because he will be forced to serve a sentence rendered in his absence. 3.6 Lastly, the author attended two or three demonstrations in Copenhagen, in front of the Iranian Embassy, against the regime in the Islamic Republic of Iran and its mistreatment of the population.13 3.7 The author further invoked articles 6 and 14 of the Covenant, without providing any reasons. State party’s observations on admissibility and the merits 4.1 On 5 January 2015, the State party submitted its observations on admissibility and the merits. It first refers to the facts of the case, in particular to the author’s statements regarding his situation in the Islamic Republic of Iran prior to his departure and to the documents produced before the Danish authorities and before the Committee. It notes that, on 18 January 2012, the author declared to the Danish National Police that he was tired of living in Tehran and that he had paid for a false passport to travel to Denmark. On 23 January 2012, he declared to the Danish National Police that he saw no possibility of a future in the Islamic Republic of Iran, that he had been under pressure at work and that he had had no freedom to live life fully. He wanted to live in Denmark to have a better life, with an education and work, and to enjoy privacy and freedom. On 23 January 2012, the author also submitted an asylum application in which he gave his first elaborate and coherent statement on the background of his departure from the Islamic Republic of Iran and his ground for asylum in his native language and in his own words. 4.2 The State party points to discrepancies in the author’s declarations before the Danish authorities with respect to the moment when he was detained in the Islamic Republic of Iran; whether he experienced problems with the Iranian authorities after his detention at the police station; and the validity of his passport when he left the country. The author also submitted different documents to the Danish authorities and to the Committee. While some documents have been submitted to both of them, 14 others were produced only before the Refugee Appeals Board15 or only before the Committee. 16 4.3 On 25 November 2014, the Refugee Appeals Board refused to reopen the asylum proceedings. Given that the Board could not find as a fact that the author had problems with 12 13 14 15 16 4 In that respect, the author cites a country of origin information report on the Islamic Republic of Iran published by the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Border Agency, Home Office (16 January 2013), p. 260, available at www.refworld.org/docid/510136952.html and Norway: Landinfo – Country of Origin Information Centre, Iran: On Conversion to Christianity, Issues concerning Kurds and Post-2009 Election Protestors as well as Legal Issues and Exit Procedures (February 2013), p. 69, available at www.refworld.org/docid/519c99d14.html. The author submits four pictures. The judgment of 24 July 2013, the notice to appear served on the author on 1 March 2014 and the notice to appear served on the author’s father on 3 May 2014. (1) Judgment of 16 September 2011 issued in absentia for the selling, setting up, etc. of satellite dishes, in which the author was sentenced to eight years’ imprisonment and a fine of 100 million rials; (2) notice of 2 May 2011 to appear “for the execution of sentences at the Evin Prison”; and (3) notice of 26 June 2011 to appear “for the execution of sentences at the Evin Prison”. A notice to appear dated 6 May 2013 and served on 8 May 2013, according to which the author was to appear before the Islamic Revolutionary Court in the Islamic Republic of Iran on 21 May 2013.