A PAKISTANI man allegedly warned that he will be lynched for being gay if he returns home has won the first stage in a High Court battle to remain in Northern Ireland.
He was granted leave to seek a judicial review amid claims a fatwa issued by his village mosque promised "a comfortable place in Paradise" to anyone who kills him.
The 35-year-old, referred to only as JK, is challenging a Home Office decision to order his removal from the UK.
A judge ruled that potentially reliable new documents setting out the extent of persecution on return to Pakistan could result in him succeeding at a fresh immigration tribunal.
JK arrived in Belfast in 2013, seeking asylum on the basis of his sexuality.
His claim was turned down a year later, and then in 2016 the Home Office rejected further submissions sent on his behalf.
The court heard he came from a village 200km away from the city of Rawalpindi.
Despite being married and having a son, he was said to secretly pursued a homosexual lifestyle while working in Rawalpindi.
Leaving his wife and child behind in Pakistan, he moved to Northern Ireland.
Denying his asylum claim in 2014, an immigration judge rejected the account of his background and found he was not gay.
However, further unverified documents were later provided by JK's solicitor, including one written in Urdu, allegedly from an uncle threatening him.
Translated it included: "The entire village is waiting for (the) day when you will come back and would be lynched."
Advising that any return to his native country would be "a recipe for death", the document added: "Fatwa was issued by the Mosque of village Iman... declared that anyone who will kill you the moment you enter Pakistan would be awarded a comfortable place in Paradise."
The Home Office upheld the original decision against him.
But in a newly published ruling on the man's judicial review challenge, Mr Justice Maguire pointed out that gay people in Pakistan can be subject to discrimination, harassment and violence - most commonly within he family.
