Caught in an airport for almost two weeks, Iranian beauty queen says she will be killed if deported

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(CNN) - An Iranian beauty queen who has spent almost two weeks at the Manila International Airport says she will be killed if she is sent back home and is seeking asylum in the Philippines.

Bahareh Zare Bahari, a participant in the recent Miss Intercontinental contest in Manila, says Tehran is trying to silence her because of her public position against the Government.

In a press release last week, the Philippine Immigration Department said the international police agency Interpol issued a worldwide request to arrest Bahari, known as a red notification. The statement did not specify which country requested the red alert, but Bahari told CNN that an immigration official told him that Iran requested one in 2018.

“I have been living here since 2014 and I have not returned to Iran. I explained many times, how can I have a criminal case in Iran when I have been living here? ”He told CNN by phone.

Bahari said he has been confined to a passenger lounge in Terminal 3 of Manila Ninoy Aquino International Airport since he arrived from Dubai 12 days ago. "I am really mentally ill," he said, adding that the uncertainty about his case is wearing her down.

Bahari believes he is under attack for supporting the exiled Reza Pahlavi, the son of the Shah of Iran overthrown in the 1979 country revolution.

The beauty queen blamed the situation on the Iranian authorities, saying that it arose because she used an image of Pahlavi and the flag of the Iranian ex-monarchy as accessories during a recent competition. Bahari said he did that act "to try to be the voice of my people."

She also believes that it may be a goal due to her social activism in Iran. Bahari said she became a teacher there because she wanted girls to learn that "they are not things, they are not toys, they are human and they have the same rights as boys."

The Immigration Department and the Philippine Department of Justice have not responded to CNN's request for comments. Requests for comments made to the Iranian embassy in Manila and the Iranian government in Tehran have not been answered.

Bahari said he moved to the Philippines about five years ago to study dentistry and has since obtained a student visa that is renewed annually. He said his current visa is valid until January 2020.

He told CNN by phone from the airport terminal that he had been denied entry when he returned to the Philippines on October 17 on a trip to the Middle East, during which he applied for asylum.

Bahari said that if a legitimate red alert had been issued for his arrest, then he would not have been able to obtain other visas for his trip to the Middle East.

In their statement, the Philippine immigration authorities said Bahari was also charged with assault and aggression in the Philippine city of Dagupan. The statement did not say if this was the reason why a red alert was issued, or if the complaint originated in Iran. Not all red alerts are made public due to the confidential nature of international criminal investigations. The Interpol press office said the agency does not comment on specific cases or individuals "except in special circumstances and with the approval of the member country in question."

When asked about the assault allegations, Bahari said they were "a big lie" and were designed to force her to return to Iran. She said there were no pending cases against her in the Philippines.

The deputy director of Human Rights Watch, Phil Robertson, said in a statement that “there have been repeated incidents in which states that repress rights in the Middle East have abused the (Interpol) process to try to force the return of dissidents in abroad".

He said the organization was concerned about the "mysterious" red alert, "especially because according to Interpol rules this is void if the person named in the notification is a refugee fleeing the state that issued it."

Dramatic scenes in immigration

Bahari said he was returning from Dubai earlier this month when immigration authorities in Manila prevented him from entering the country. What happened next has been questioned, but both Bahari and immigration authorities describe a tense and dramatic confrontation.

The beauty contestant told CNN that when she was denied entry for the first time, she was taken to a room where officials explained that there was a problem with her visa. After a brief wait, he was told that he had to return to Iran. She said she then called a close friend to ask for help.

Bahari said the airport authorities tried to convince her to take a flight back to Iran. Instead, he sat on the floor and told them he wouldn't go anywhere.

She said she feared she would be forced to get up, so she started screaming.

Approximately 10 minutes later, her friend entered and tried to convince the airport authorities that she would be jailed or killed if she was returned to Iran. The friend began to cry and scream, Bahari said, before being arrested.

The Immigration Office said the friend was "unruly" and violated the security of the airport to "look for her countryman."

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“Foreigners must respect our laws when they are in our country. Inappropriate behavior and derogatory comments gave the officer more reasons to deny Zare Bahari's entry, ”Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente said in a statement.

Authorities accused both of "causing a scene," saying they had to be separated by airport authorities. The Immigration Office also claimed that Bahari shouted "May Jesus kill all Filipinos!"

Bahari said she was screaming because she was trying to get people's attention for fear of being sent back to Iran. She thought that invoking the name of Jesus would attract people's attention, since many people in the country are devout Catholics.