A MEMBER of the Iranian Kurdish opposition is now in the second week of a hunger strike protest at being refused asylum in Ireland.

Adnan Hasan Mohammedi, who says he was an activist for the banned Komala party in Iran, was told by a Refugee Applications Commissioner official that there were "credibility flaws" at "the heart of his claim" for asylum.

The official said Mohammedi had not provided "any concrete or provable evidence of connections to the [Komala] party".

However, it took the Sunday Tribune just five minutes to contact a representative of the Komala party who confirmed that Adnan Mohammedi had been an activist for the party and had been forced to flee Iran following persecution. Conviction for membership of Komala can carry the death penalty, according to Amnesty International.

Jafar Ilkhani, the Representative Abroad for the Komala party, based in Sweden, told the Sunday Tribune he did not know Adnan Mohammedi personally, but that he had previously contacted the party's office in Kurdistan who had confirmed that Mohammedi had been doing "covert political work" and had been "persecuted".

Jafar Ilkhani previously wrote a fax in support of Adnan Mohammedi's claim for asylum, and this was submitted as part of Mohammedi's claim. The refugee applications official found that this letter "appears to be a faxed copy" and had "no real evidentiary or probative value".

There is no evidence that the official made any attempt to contact Jafar Ilkhani to verify the information contained in the fax, despite having been provided with various contact details for Komala by Mohammedi's lawyers.

Adnan Mohammedi's legal file, which has been seen by the Sunday Tribune, contains a detailed account of his clandestine activities on behalf of Komala, including an account of being tortured on one occasion in the past.

"I was handcuffed and brought to the Intelligence Services Station in Mariwan, " he said. "They covered my eyes. With a rope they fastened me to a fan and it was turning around with the rope from my feet and my hands."

Mohammedi attended at the Centre for the Care of Survivors of Torture in Dublin. A psychotherapist from the centre reported that "he exhibits all the signs of a deeply traumatised individual", with symptoms including "acute anxiety, depression and fear".

"His anxiety and depression are currently extreme due to his concerns about his family's whereabouts and circumstances somewhere on the Iran/Iraq border, as well as the distress he is experiencing as he moves through the asylum process."

However, the refugee applications official found the doctor's report relied on Mohammedi's own "unsubstantiated account" to suggest a possible reason for his traumatised condition and so "proves nothing".

In his asylum interview, Mohammedi described how he had fled his home in 2003 after the arrest of some of his Komala colleagues, and had spent five months in hiding in the mountains, where his wife visited him on occasion. He said his family were harassed by the authorities after he left, and in 2006 were told they were to be moved, following which they fled to Iraqi Kurdistan.

The refugee applications official found there was "no way of substantiating" Mohammedi's account, and wrote: "It does not seem plausible that some three years after the alleged incident that led to [him] leaving Iran, his family were apparently told by the authorities that they had to move."

The official also found other "credibility flaws" which she said were "significant". These focused on details of the Komala party's organisation, such as how many members were on its central committee, and whether it was necessary to pay membership dues.

Mohammedi started his hunger strike on 2 March, and sewed his lips together. He is receiving medical attention, and in recent days has allowed a doctor to cut the stitches on his mouth and has accepted water, but has not eaten.

He spoke to the Sunday Tribune from his room at the Hatch Hall accommodation centre for asylum seekers in Dublin. His words were translated by a fellow Iranian.

"It's too much stress for me, I cannot cope with it, " he said of his experience of the Irish asylum system.

"I want to give my voice to the people of Ireland. They don't know what's going on in the asylum system. I've already wasted four-anda-half years."

Mohammedi is married, with a seven year old daughter. There are photos of his wife and daughter on the walls of his room.

"I haven't seen my wife and kids for nearly five years. I told my family not to expect to see me alive again. I have only two choices - I see my children and wife, or die. If I die, I don't want it to be ignored. I want my story to be heard."

A series of medical and psychological assessments have found Mohammedi to be suffering from severe anxiety and depression, and have said he was at risk of self-harm or suicide.

In the report, provided by the Centre for the Care of Survivors of Torture, the doctor painted a bleak picture of the life of someone caught in the asylum system here.

"Mr Mohammedi says that he does nothing during the day. He mostly stays in his room or only occasionally goes out to use the internet. He says he has no friends? He says he is not learning English;

he finds that he can't remember things and speaks just a little.

"He appears hopeless and says that he has lost his future. He says it is four years since he saw his wife and child? He says that he gets tearful, that he cries when he speaks to his daughter and becomes tearful on his own in the hostel."