Canadian facing death in Iran

[i_got_a_mohawk]

Originally Posted by Guardian

Iran confirms death sentence for 'porn site' web programmer | World news | guardian.co.uk

Iran confirms death sentence for 'porn site' web programmer

Saeed Malekpour faces imminent execution on basis of confessions he retracted in letter, saying they had been beaten out of him


Saeed Malekpour says his interrogators flogged his head and neck, and threatened his family. Photograph: Guardian

Iran's supreme court has upheld the death sentence for a web programmer who faces imminent execution after being found guilty of developing and promoting porn websites.

Saeed Malekpour was picked up by plainclothes officers in October 2008 and taken to Evin prison in Tehran, where he spent a year in solitary confinement without access to lawyers and without charge.

A year after his arrest, the 35-year-old appeared in a state television programme confessing to a series of crimes in connection with a porn website. On the basis of his TV confessions, he was convicted of designing and moderating adult materials online by a court in Tehran, which handed down death penalty.

Malekpour later retracted his confessions in a letter sent from prison, in which he said they had been made under duress.

According to Malekpour's family, he is a permanent resident of Canada and is a programmer who wrote photo-uploading software that was used by a porn website without his knowledge.

His sister, Maryam Malekpour, said the supreme court had confirmed the death sentence despite many discrepancies in the case. "Saeed's lawyers were told that his death sentence will be issued this week," she said in an interview with the Iranian website Roozonline.

After an international campaign and new expert evidence, the supreme court suspended Malekpour's death sentence in June 2011 and ordered a judicial review.

Speaking to the Guardian, Maryam Nayeb Yazdi, a human rights activist based in Toronto who has followed Malekpour's case closely, said: "Saeed is in imminent danger of execution. He has never been provided with a fair trial at any point during this horrific and twisted ordeal.

"There are various discrepancies in Saeed's case file that were supposed to be reviewed and investigated by the revolutionary court, but the judge ignored the discrepancies and reissued the death sentence anyway.

"Saeed is being used as a scapegoat in a string of political games led by the revolutionary guards."

In his letter, Malekpour said large proportions of his confessions had been "extracted under pressure, physical and psychological torture" and in the face of threats to him and his family.

"Once, in October 2008, the interrogators stripped me while I was blindfolded and threatened to rape me with a bottle of water," he wrote. "While I remained blindfolded and handcuffed, several individuals armed with cables, batons, and their fists struck and punched me. At times, they would flog my head and neck.

"Such mistreatment was aimed at forcing me to write what the interrogators were dictating, and to compel me to play a role in front of the camera based on their scenarios."

Drewery Dyke, of Amnesty International, said: "The death sentence recently upheld in the case of Saeed Malekpour extends the long, cold reach of execution in Iran.

"He is alleged to have created 'pornographic' internet sites and [is accused of] 'insulting the sanctity of Islam', for which he was charged with 'spreading corruption on earth', a vaguely worded charge which attracted the death penalty in Iran.

"The use of vaguely worded charges is not new in Iran, but the allegation that these were carried out on the internet is. It is an unwelcome addition to the catalogue of ways in which Iran finds it can execute its own citizens.

"In advance of March's parliamentary elections, when you would expect the right to exercise one's freedom of expression to increase, this case exemplifies 'innovative' ways as to how Iran is setting itself against access to online information."

Iran has faced international criticism for escalating its use of the capital punishment in recent years. In December, Amnesty warned against "a killing spree of staggering proportions" in the Islamic republic, and said Iran had executed at least 600 people between the beginning of 2011 and the end of November.

[projectMalamute]

this is what happens when you put the religious in charge.

[Darth Handsome]

I can't think of a reason to ever set foot in Iran.

[superfunk47]

Originally Posted by Darth Handsome

I can't think of a reason to ever set foot in Iran.

Maybe because there's an unbelievably rich and ancient culture there unlike any other on the planet, more history than most places you could hope to learn about, and that they're a society of people like any other held captive by an extreme and violent regime, who could probably use more compassion than condemnation.

[projectMalamute]

Originally Posted by superfunk47

Maybe because there's an unbelievably rich and ancient culture there unlike any other on the planet, more history than most places you could hope to learn about, and that they're a society of people like any other held captive by an extreme and violent regime, who could probably use more compassion than condemnation.

+100

[Darth Handsome]

Originally Posted by superfunk47

Maybe because there's an unbelievably rich and ancient culture there unlike any other on the planet, more history than most places you could hope to learn about, and that they're a society of people like any other held captive by an extreme and violent regime, who could probably use more compassion than condemnation.

I was actually speaking of putting myself at the mercy of the extreme & violent regime. Sorry for the ambiguity.

[superfunk47]

Originally Posted by Darth Handsome

I was actually speaking of putting myself at the mercy of the extreme & violent regime. Sorry for the ambiguity.

Sorry for the snippy response, as well. There's just so much bashing of the whole culture rather than just the problematic part, much like our own situation in the States, it's easy to get carried away.

[Darth Handsome]

Originally Posted by superfunk47

Sorry for the snippy response, as well. There's just so much bashing of the whole culture rather than just the problematic part, much like our own situation in the States, it's easy to get carried away.

I would never bash a culture. Ever.

[bassteban]

Originally Posted by superfunk47

Maybe because there's an unbelievably rich and ancient culture there unlike any other on the planet, more history than most places you could hope to learn about, and that they're a society of people like any other held captive by an extreme and violent regime, who could probably use more compassion than condemnation.

This may well be quite true but the associated dangers involved prompt me to wonder why one go there any time after, say, the turn of the century.

Edit: Also NOT bashing anyone's culture/religion/etc- I don't bash fire but I don't stick my hand into it.

[MatticusMania]

Originally Posted by bassteban

Edit: Also NOT bashing anyone's culture/religion/etc- I don't bash fire but I don't stick my hand into it.

I bash fire! It builds calluses!

[aborgman]

Originally Posted by superfunk47

Maybe because there's an unbelievably rich and ancient culture there unlike any other on the planet, more history than most places you could hope to learn about, and that they're a society of people like any other held captive by an extreme and violent regime, who could probably use more compassion than condemnation.

Yeah, that doesn't seem like a very good reason to go there and subject myself to an extreme and violent regime. Just sayin'.

[Kwesi]

Originally Posted by aborgman

Yeah, that doesn't seem like a very good reason to go there and subject myself to an extreme and violent regime. Just sayin'.

My thoughts exactly.

[macaroni tony]

Originally Posted by projectMalamute

this is what happens when you put the religious in charge.

[LAG]

I am waiting to see if Iran shoots torpedoes at the US/French/British fleet patrolling the area with their puny little submarines. That should be interesting.

[MatticusMania]

Originally Posted by LAG

I am waiting to see if Iran shoots torpedoes at the US/French/British fleet patrolling the area with their puny little submarines. That should be interesting.

Maybe they'll request assistance from the Somali Pirates?

[Relic]

Originally Posted by LAG

I am waiting to see if Iran shoots torpedoes at the US/French/British fleet patrolling the area with their puny little submarines. That should be interesting.

God I hope not...
Iran is not Iraq and if there were to be trouble, it would be a s-storm in a big big way when you consider that Israel may (theoretically) end up being involved. That sort of thing can grow fast...

[knumbskull]

Originally Posted by Darth Handsome

I can't think of a reason to ever set foot in Iran.

one of my co-workers used to visit regularly, she gave a brilliant slide show of historic buildings, relics, artwork, and more. It looks like a fascinating place. If you stick to a few basic rules as a western visitor, you're fine, apparently. (mind you that was a few years ago).

the regime, on the other hand...

[kserg]

Sad.

[Mark Latimour]

FWIW: Photos from Iran

Bear in mind that was 2008 when things were more stable there. I wouldn't recommend travelling there at this time.

[fourstringdrums]

Lets keep religion out of this..

I don't even know what to say about this other than it makes me angry. I'm of the mind that I don't care what the culture is, or what the reason is behind a country's treatment of their people, if it's not within the bounds of decent humanity there is no good excuse.