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| Saeed Malekpour |
A Canadian man, detained in Iran since 2008, now faces the death penalty in that country, according to a group calling for Saeed Malekpour's release says.
Campaign for Release of Saeed Malekpour says on its website the Iranian judge who tried the case, told Malekpour's lawyer the decision to hand down the death penalty was not his, but rather an edict from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.
His supporters say Malekpour — an Iranian-born Canadian — worked as a freelance website developer and programmer, and designed a program to allow designers to upload photos to their websites.
But they say the program was later used, unbeknownst to Malekpour, for the creation of an adult website.
A Foreign Affairs spokesperson said Monday: "Canada remains deeply concerned by the continued flagrant disregard of the Iranian authorities for the rights of Iranians.
"This appears to be another case in which someone in Iran is facing a death sentence after a highly questionable process," Alain Cacchione said in a prepared statement.
Malekpour, 35, arrived in Canada in 2004, after which he became a permanent resident.
In October 2008, he was detained in Iran after he returned to his country of birth to visit his ill father.
He has been held in Tehran's Evin Prison ever since, charged with "taking action against national security by designing and moderating adult content websites," "agitation against the regime," "contact with foreign entities," and "insulting the sanctity of Islam."
In an open letter to prison officials written in March, Malekpour claims he was tortured and forced to make a false confession.
In the letter, Malekpour says he spent 320 days straight in solitary confinement.
Canadian resident sentenced to death in Iran: reports
Any negotiations undertaken by the Canadian government to secure the release of Saeed Malekpour, a Richmond Hill, Ont., website developer facing the death penalty in Iran for allegedly designing “adult” websites, are unlikely to be successful, says an expert in Middle East politics.
Mr. Malekpour, a 35-year-old Iranian-born Canadian resident was sentenced to death Saturday by an Iranian judge after being charged with so-called “Internet offences,” including “taking action against national security by designing and moderating adult content websites,” as well as “agitation against the regime” and “insulting the sanctity of Islam.”
According to Aurel Braun, a political science professor at the University of Toronto, the Canadian government, like most western democracies, carries little weight with the fascist Iranian state, a standing made worse by the fact that Mr. Malkepour is not a Canadian citizen, but rather a permanent resident.
“It would be difficult even if this individual were a Canadian citizen and born in Canada, simply because we have very limited leverage with the Iranian government,” Prof. Braun said.
“This is a government that has disregarded the norms of international behaviour for a long time, has persecuted many of its citizens and is holding American citizens who are accused of espionage,” he said, referring to Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal, both 28, arrested in July 2009 after they were detained while hiking along the Iraq border. They remain in Tehran and face charges of spying that carry a punishment of 10 years in prison.
“The United States is a superpower, and it isn’t able to free its own people.”
Mr. Malekpour came to Canada in 2004, after which he became a permanent resident. According to his supporters, who have set up a website campaigning for his release, Mr. Malekpour worked as a freelance web developer and programmer, and designed a program allowing photos to be uploaded and posted on websites.
“He loved computer and was pretty good at that,” Mr. Malekpour’s wife, Fatima Eftekhari, 32, told the Richmond Hill Liberal newspaper.
She said her husband’s program, to which he attached his name as designer, was used to create part of an adult website, unbeknownst to him.
“It’s like a nightmare,” she said.
In October 2008, Mr. Malekpour was detained in Iran after he returned to his country of birth to visit his ill father. He has been held in Tehran’s Evin Prison ever since.
Prof. Braun suggested Mr. Malekpour may have been targetted by the Iranian regime for his savvy web skills.
“The Iranian regime operates on the basis of trying to control information as much as possible and are therefore very susipicious of anyone who would have even the potential of being able to communicate or break through barriers placed on Internet communication,” he said.
In an open letter to prison officials written in March, Mr. Malekpour says he was tortured and forced to make a false confession.
“Most of the time, the tortures were performed by a group,” Mr. Malekpour wrote in the letter, posted on the website set up by his supporters.
“While I remained blindfolded and handcuffed, several individuals armed with cables, batons and their fists struck and punched me … Such mistreatment was aimed a forcing me to write what interrogators were dictating, and to compel me to play a role to a false confession in front of the camera based on their scenarios.
“Once … the interrogators stripped me while I was blindfolded and threatened to rape me with a bottle of water.”
In the letter, Mr. Malekpour says he spent 320 days straight in solitary confinement.
He is the latest Canadian resident of Iranian descent to find himself facing punishment for supposed crimes against the state, joining Hamid Ghassemi-Shall, of Toronto, who is reportedly facing the death penalty, and Hussein Derakhshan, a Toronto blogger serving 20 years in prison.
The Department of Foreign Affairs won’t say whether it is in talks with Iranian officials in an attempt to secure Mr. Malekpour’s release.
Department spokesman Alain Cacchione said Mr. Malekpour’s experience “appears to be another case in which someone in Iran is facing a death sentence after a highly questionable process.”
“Canada remains deeply concerned by the continued flagrant disregard of the Iranian authorities for the rights of Iranians,” Mr. Cacchione said. “Canada, in concert with the international community, is striving to hold Iran accountable for such human rights violations … We continue to call on Iran to respect its domestic and international obligations and ensure fairness and due process for all its citizens and others.”
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