Alexandru Dinu v. John Ashcroft, Attorney General, Alexandru Dinu v. John Ashcroft, Attorney General

We consider whether police harassment which includes threats of prosecution, but where no charges are brought, must be deemed harassment “on account of ... political opinion” for purposes of the asylum statute.

*1043 Facts

Alexandra Dinu is a native and citizen of Romania. In 1989, when Dinu was twenty-one, he began a year of compulsory military service. During his tour of duty, he was assigned to a unit that specialized in protecting important targets from terrorist attacks. As Dinu’s military service neared its end, Romania experienced a revolution, which resulted in the overthrow of Romania’s communist regime. Dinu continued his military service during the revolution and returned to his hometown, Craiova City, some weeks thereafter.

In 1991, Dinu was arrested and taken to the local police station. According to Dinu, the police tried to force him to sign a false confession that he had been stationed in Craiova City during the revolution and had fired on demonstrators. According to Dinu, he was never stationed in Craiova City during his military service but had spent the entire time in Tirgu Jiu, approximately 100 kilometers away. Dinu alleges that, during his detention, he…

dissenting:

I respectfully dissent.

Although ordinary prosecution for criminal activity is not considered persecution under asylum law, see Chanco v. INS, 82 F.3d 298, 302 (9th Cir.1996), if the petitioner was not the target of any “legitimate government prosecution,” the petitioner is entitled to a presumption that at least one of the motives for the harassment is political. Singh v. Ilchert, 63 F.3d 1501, 1509 (9th Cir.1995); see also Blanco-Lopez v. INS, 858 F.2d 531, 534 (9th Cir.1988); Ratnam v. INS, 154 F.3d 990, 993-94 (9th Cir.1998).

*1046 In this case, the petitioner was taken into police custody every month for an extended period of time, beaten, and threatened with death if he did not sign a false confession. He claims, without contradiction, that these beatings were motivated by a desire on the part of the police to discredit the former Ceausescu regime by trying to “find guilty people or invent them so the communists can justify their overthrow of the former president.” As Dinu explained on his original application for asylum:

The immigration judge speculated that this was mere heavy-handed, but legitimate, law enforcement. A close examination of the record belies…

372 F.3d 1041 Alexandru DINU, Petitioner, v. John ASHCROFT, Attorney General, Respondent. Alexandru Dinu, Petitioner, v. John Ashcroft, Attorney General, Respondent. No. 02-74208. No. 03-72220. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Argued and Submitted April 14, 2004. Filed June 18, 2004. Robert B. Jobe, San Francisco, CA, for the petitioner. Peter D. Keisler, Assistant Attorney General, U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, DC, Richard M. Evans, Assistant Director, U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, DC, Nancy E. Friedman, Office of Immigration Litigation, U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, DC, and Patricia Smith, U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, DC, for the respondent. On Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration Appeals. Before: WALLACE, KOZINSKI and THOMAS, Circuit Judges. KOZINSKI, Circuit Judge: 1 We consider whether police harassment which includes threats of prosecution, but where no charges are brought, must be deemed harassment "on account of ... political opinion" for purposes of the asylum statute. Facts 2 Alexandru Dinu is a native and citizen of Romania. In 1989, when Dinu was twenty-one, he began a year of compulsory…