I blogged about Mehdi Kazemi’s plight earlier today. The latest news on the case is just in: Mr. Kazemi’s request for asylum in the Netherlands was turned down by a Dutch court. Kazemi, who is gay, will now be deported back to the UK, where the legal system has already refused to grant him asylum, and thence, presumably, to Iran, where he faces torture and execution. His family, according to news reports, will now appeal to the European Court of Justice. Failure on the ECJ’s part to overturn the previous decisions would be an absolute disgrace for the EU: tens of thousands of illegal immigrants enter Europe every year and go on to enjoy the benefits (including the political freedoms) of modern Western society. It is grotesque that someone like Mr. Kazemi should be denied the protection given to so many others, out of what I suspect is a fear of offending extremist Muslims in England and the Netherlands.