"There is no doubt that Mehdi will be arrested and probably executed if he is sent back there," said his 51-year-old uncle, a salesman from Hampshire. "The police have issued a warrant for his arrest. He will be in terrible danger if he goes back."
Mr Kazemi's father has also told him that if the state doesn't kill him, he will. "His father is very angry but his mother still loves him. She is extremely worried for him but she is in a very difficult position. In Iran, mothers don't stop loving their children because they are gay."
A Home Office spokeswoman confirmed Mr Kazemi had exhausted all his domestic avenues of appeal and could expect to be detained pending his deportation. But she added: "Any further representations will be considered on their merits taking into account all the circumstances."Meanwhile, in Lancashire, a court has heard that a gang of teenagers beat a 20-year-old woman to death because she was dressed as a Goth. The woman's boyfriend was severely bashed and left with brain damage. It is not clear what the assailants' dispute with the victims' subcultural orientation was, or indeed what their own views were, though it'd probably be a safe bet that they were of the hoody-wearing persuasion.
And the ultra-conservative former prime minister of Poland, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, has spoken out against allowing internet voting because the internet is for pornography:
"I am not an enthusiast of a young person sitting in front of a computer, watching video clips and pornography while sipping a bottle of beer and voting when he feels like it," he was quoted as saying on his party's revamped Web site.
He added that Internet users are "the easiest group to manipulate, to suggest who to vote for."He's right, if one defines being manipulated as being persuaded to put aside cherished prejudices and entertain new, potentially controversial, ideas.
"Bogans" these days include the people who wear Australian flags as capes and go to Big Day Out looking for foreign-looking people and making them "kiss the flag". They're not classic tight-jeans-and-moccassins bogans, but neither are Marilyn Manson fans classic goths.
do "gangs" in Europe fight over anything but who conforms better?
Recently, I've read news from both Hobart and Melbourne that has described "bogan vs. goth/emo" violence. It was in the paper when I was in Hobart recently, actually, a gang of "bogans" bashing a couple of emo kids in the mall. Do these people self-identify as "bogans"? I don't know about you, but for me that word conjures up images of tight black jeans, AC/DC shirts, and rusty old Holdens. I can only assume to "bogan" culture has evolved...