KEY POINTS:
Iranian asylum seeker Ali Reza Panah could still be deported, despite being released on bail today, the Government has said.
Mr Panah was this afternoon released from prison on condition that he ended a 53-day hunger strike.
He is one of three Iranians who have been held
in jail after the Refugee Status Appeals Authority found that they were not genuine Christian converts and/or did not face any threat if they returned to Iran.
One of the other two, Thomas Yadegary, was released on bail earlier this year. A third man remains in the Auckland Central Remand Prison.
Labour Department lawyer Shona Carr told the North Shore District Court today that the department no longer objected to bail because of the "exceptional circumstances" of his case.
She said these included his state of health, Iran's refusal to accept its citizens from other countries unless they sign applications for a passport or travel documents, and the length of time - 20 months - that Mr Panah has been in jail.
Judge Mark Perkins granted bail on condition that he resumes a normal diet under medical supervision and lives with his Anglican vicar, the Rev Clive Sperring, in Orakei, with a curfew requiring him to be at Mr Sperring's house between 10pm and 8am.
He will remain on bail indefinitely until Immigration New Zealand obtains a passport or travel document for him from Iran.
Mr Panah, who sat in a wheelchair with his head lying to one side during the brief court hearing, told reporters afterwards that he would eat or fast if Jesus wanted him to.
Clutching a Bible and a Bible study booklet, he said: "I'm never alone because He is always with me. I can stay in the fasting if He wants me to stay in the fasting."
His lawyer, Grant Illingworth, QC, said Mr Panah had agreed to resume eating. Mr Illingworth drove him from the court to a doctor, where Mr Sperring was meeting him this afternoon.
Immigration Minister David Cunliffe tonight said the Government had intervened in Mr Panah's case because his health had reached such a "parlous state"
But he told reporters Mr Panah could still be deported at some stage.
Panah says his life will be in danger if he returns to Iran, because he is a converted Christian. He converted to Christianity before he arrived in New Zealand.
But Mr Cunliffe said there was no evidence Mr Panah would be harmed if he returned to Iran.
"... there's been no reported case of a deportee being killed or severely persecuted on return to Iran."
Panah has been detained for 20 months for refusing to sign papers that could lead to his deportation. Iran is the only country that requires an outgoing individual to sign a travel document themselves. Mr Cunliffe said negotiations with Iran on changing this were ongoing.
"Mr Panah is still subject to a removal order and could be removed at any time, if and when that becomes possible," he said.
"I think what we've got today is a very positive middle ground that allows him to restore his health, gives him the time to put his best case together and allows the whole thing to be considered in a sensible and rational way."
He also said Panah had been offered - and previously accepted before later changing his mind - voluntarily going to a third country.
The minister would not say which country that would be, but said there were certainly possibilities.
Mr Cunliffe told reporters today that Mr Panah had been through every legal avenue to stay in New Zealand "and has failed each time".
His humanitarian circumstances had also been given a full and fair hearing through multiple appeals to independent bodies, the minister said.
One of those bodies had rejected Mr Panah's evidence as being "implausible and inconsistent". Another tribunal had rejected Mr Panah's evidence as "fabricated and found him not to be credible".
Mr Cunliffe said the Anglican Church and others who had supported Mr Panah did not have the "full facts" and he urged the Iranian and his supporters to make all the material concerning the case publicly available.
Mr Cunliffe said Panah had not applied for ministerial discretion to let him stay.
At her post-cabinet press conference today Prime Minister Helen Clark also stressed that Panah had exhausted all avenues to legally appeal his case.
"This man has been given absolutely due process in New Zealand and the claims he made did not stand up in front of the independent authorities to which they were presented."
When asked if she thought Panah would be removed from New Zealand, Miss Clark said the expectation was that when a person failed all legal processes they left the country in due course.
Supporters of Mr Panah said they were thrilled he was granted bail.
Rev Sperring said he was "very happy" Panah was out of prison and could now receive full medical attention.
"We're going to get him back to full health and he's got legal representation now, which is going to help him prepare a case again for his refugee status."
Panah had asserted that since his conversion to Christianity his life would be in danger if he returned to Iran.
Rev Sperring said Panah, who had arrived at his place this afternoon, was "seriously ill" and he was concentrating on looking after him.
Supporter John Minto, spokesman for Global Peace and Justice said Panah's release on bail was "wonderful news".
"We're thrilled but deeply f***ing dismayed that it took this long.
"And we've still got a way to go."
Mr Panah found support with some of the country's top clergy with Anglican Archbishop David Moxon saying he was convinced Panah was genuine in his Christianity.
Green Party Human Rights spokesman Keith Locke said there would be few Christians who could better quote chapter and verse.
"Mr Panah is a warm and gentle man, a Christian who is tolerant of all other religions. He deserves better from New Zealand."
But some people, most notably New Zealand First deputy leader Peter Brown, have cast doubt on the genuineness of Mr Panah's conversion to Christianity.
He said Panah's conversion was a rort.
"This is an abuse of the system and the Christian faith," he said.
- With NZPA
