CAT/C/60/D/662/2015 or three protest demonstrations in front of the embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Bern in November 2009 and February 2010, but at present his activities are limited to attending monthly meetings of the Iranian Social Democratic Party, although he is not a member. However, in his application for asylum of 15 April 2013, he had claimed to be a member of that party. 21 The State party contends that the complainant does not occupy a position of importance in a political organization that opposes the Iranian regime and that his situation is clearly different from those of Mr. Azizi, 22 Mr. Tahmuresi23 and the authors X and Z.24 In the view of the State party, the foregoing facts refute the argument that the complainant has a political profile that would attract the Iranian authorities’ attention. 4.9 The State party also recalls that the complainant arrived in Switzerland in 2001 and filed his first application for asylum six years later, after having separated from his partner and after the Federal Court had decided to revoke his residence permit. The fact that he waited so long to take such action in itself casts doubt on his claims that he would be at risk of persecution. In fact, the complainant himself stated, of his own accord, that he had filed an asylum application for the sole purpose of being near his three daughters, and it was only after the definitive denial of his first application for asylum (that is, seven years after his arrival in Switzerland), at a point in time when he knew that he was supposed to leave Switzerland, that he began to engage in some activities. It is therefore not credible that his political activities in Switzerland are the result of a growing awareness on his part. 4.10 The State party adds that the complainant does not appear to be a person who is moved by a deeply held political conviction to raise public awareness about the Iranian regime in the host country. Instead, he seems to be a person who wants to give the appearance of being politically committed. His “sudden” political awareness while in Switzerland indicates that he is seeking to create circumstances that will enable him to obtain asylum. Conduct of this sort is a sign that the complainant himself does not actually think that he would be in danger of being subjected to torture if he were to return. 4.11 According to the State party, the complainant also claims that his conversion to Christianity would put him in danger of being tortured if he were to return, but converting to Christianity and practising that religion abroad do not put a person at risk of prosecution in the Islamic Republic of Iran unless it is done actively and visibly. The State party recalls that, in Azizi v. Switzerland, the Committee found that the complainant’s “conversion to Christianity and his affiliation with Kurdish political activists compound the risk that he will be persecuted if he is returned to the Islamic Republic of Iran”, 25 after having determined that the type of political activities in opposition to the Iranian authorities in which he had engaged abroad could well attract the attention of those authorities. In X v. Switzerland,26 the deciding factors were the complainant’s involvement in demonstrations in the Islamic Republic of Iran in 2009, his exclusion from university and his illegal departure from the Islamic Republic of Iran, rather than his religious views alone. 4.12 The State party adds that, during the consideration of his first application for asylum, the complainant stated that he had converted to Christianity in 1996 and that he had informed the Iranian consulate in Milan of that fact in 2001. Nonetheless, he later obtained an Iranian passport without difficulty. During his hearings, the complainant was not able to explain why he had converted or to describe or cite any of the fundamental elements of Christianity (for example, the Ten Commandments, the structure of the New Testament or the name of even one of the Evangelists). It is true that he cited, in vague terms, some of the Ten Commandments, including the seventh (“Thou shalt not steal”), although he does not 21 22 23 24 25 26 6 Asylum application of 15 April 2013, annex 7. Active member of the Swiss branch of the Kurdish Democratic Party of Iran and President of the Executive Committee for several cantons (see Azizi v. Switzerland, para. 8.6). Active member of the Democratic Association for Refugees in Switzerland since 2006 and viewed as one of the leaders of that organization, which is publicly opposed to the Iranian regime, and responsible for recruiting new members (see Tahmuresi v. Switzerland, para. 7.6). Active members of the Komala Party, as are several members of their family; in addition, they had previously been imprisoned and tortured in the Islamic Republic of Iran (see X and Z v. Finland, para. 7.6). Azizi v. Switzerland, para. 8.8. X v. Switzerland, para. 7.6. GE.17-12101