SECOND SECTION

DECISION

Application no. 51854/08 by Mohammad Emir NEJAT against Turkey

The European Court of Human Rights (Second Section), sitting on 23 March 2010 as a Chamber composed of:

Françoise Tulkens , President, Ireneu Cabral Barreto , Vladimiro Zagrebelsky , Danutė Jočienė , Dragoljub Popović , András Sajó , Işıl Karakaş , judges, Françoise Elens-Passos, Deputy Section Registrar .

Having regard to the above application lodged on 21 October 2008,

Having regard to the interim measure indicated to the respondent Government under Rule 39 of the Rules of Court and the fact that this interim measure has been complied with,

Having regard to the observations submitted by the respondent Government and the observations in reply submitted by the applicant,

Having deliberated, decides as follows:

THE FACTS

The applicant, Mr Mohammad Emir Nejat , is an Iranian national who was born in 1971 and currently lives in Van. He was represented before the Court by Mr C. Demir, a lawyer practising in Van. The Turkish Government (“the Government”) were represented by their Agent.

T he facts of the case, as submitted by the parties, may be summarised as follows.

I n 1991 the applicant was convicted of murder and sentenced to death in Iran . He escaped prison and fled to Turkey in 1998.

On 8 August 2008 the applicant was arrested at the Turkish border while attempting to cross to Iran to visit his wife and children. Subsequently he requested asylum from the Turki sh authorities and was placed in the Van Police Headquarters, in a section reserved for aliens pending the asylum proceedings .

After conducting two interviews with the applicant on 13 and 19 August 2008, the authorities refused the applicant ’ s asylum claim o n 19 September 2008 . T he applicant lodged an objection with the Turkish authorities on the same day. According to the information in the case file the applicant ’ s objection is still pending before national authorities.

On 30 October 2008 the Court applied an interim measure and decided to indicate to the respondent Government, under Rule 39 of the Rules of Court, that the applicant should not be deported to Iran until further notice.

On 19 October 2009 the Ministry of Interior informed the Van Governorship that the applicant had been granted a temporary residence permit in Van for a period of one year. The decision was based on the grounds that the asylum proceedings in respect of the applicant were still pending, that the applicant had not been convicted of any crime and did not pose a security c oncern within Turkish territory. The decision further referred to the applicant ’ s medical problems and the Court ’ s interim measure in force .

On 20 October 2009 the applicant was released and asked not to leave the perimeters of Van without prior permission.

COMPLAINTS AND THE LAW

Relying on Articles 2, 3 and 6 of the Convention, the applicant submitted that his removal to Iran would expose him to a real risk of death or ill-treatment.

The Court notes that the applicant has now been granted a renewable residence permit valid for a period of one year pending the asylum proceedings. Therefore, he currently does not face an imminent risk of deportation and its alleged consequences in breach of the Convention.

In these circumstance s, and having regard to Article 37 § 1 of the Convention, the Court is of the opinion that it is no longer justified to continue the examination of the application (see for example N.M. v. Turkey (dec.), no. 42175/05, 18 March 2008; Carmen Emilia Rojas Arenas v. the Netherlands (dec.), no. 1989 / 07 , 6 September 2007). Furthermore, with reference to Article 37 § 1 in fine , the Court finds no special circumstances regarding respect for human rights as defined in the Convention and its Protocols which require the examination of the application to be continued. Accordingly, it is appropriate to discontinue the application of Rule 39 of the Rules of Court and to strike the case out the list.

For these reasons, the Court unanimously

Decides to strike the application out of its list of cases.

Françoise Elens-Passos Françoise Tulkens Deputy Registrar President