Justice for my father, our family and the Australian community

To the Australian community Sheikh Mansour Leghaei is a gentle natured and decent man - a respected community leader, a peacemaker and a friend.

But to my brothers, sister and I, he is our loving father – a father whom we have been separated from, for 5 years, for reasons unknown to us. After 16 years of life in Australia, our father was forced to leave the land he still calls home.   

This ordeal has broken up our family, causing us immense personal suffering and deprived our community of a father figure.

I, Ali Leghaei, ask for your support in respectfully requesting the Australian Government - an advanced nation that is signatory to all major United Nations’ Human Rights’ Conventions - to give my father justice and his basic human rights which are reflected in the recent decision of the United Nations’ Human Rights Committee (UNHRC). 

Please help us ask the Australian Government to re-consider their position and to do ‘the right thing’ by accepting the UN’s recommendation to re-assess my father’s case and to give him a remedy – basically give him a ‘fair go’.

Our family lived peacefully in Australia for 16 years until my father was deported back to Iran, without being informed of the reason. He had always been a law-abiding member of Australian society and an active role-model in inter-faith dialogue and harmony between various communities, particularly the Christian community along with his good friend, Father Dave Smith (www.savethesheikh.com). His supporters include high profile leaders such as Bishop Desmond Tutu, Pastor Ray Minniecon (Chaplain, Redfern Community), Dr Norman Finkelstein, Bishop Riah Abu El-Assal and Professor Hans Kochler among others. As a community leader he only spoke of peace and understanding between communities, focusing on our similarities rather than our differences.

We respectfully urge the Australian Government to deal with this case fairly and transparently and to accept the recommendations and guidance of the UN.  

On behalf of my family and our community, we thank you all for your support in helping us reunite with our father. 

Please refer to our website www.Justice4mansour.org to keep updated on this case.