The death sentence that had been struck down by the country’s Supreme Court has been reinstated by Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court presided by Judge Moghiseh.
Last Wednesday Saeed Malekpour was taken to Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court and was handed down a death sentence from Judge Moghisheh for the second time. He also received an additional sentence of 7.5 years behind bars.
According to a trusted source that spoke to Human Rights House of Iran and asked to remain anonymous, this last court session took place in a very speedy manner. The source said, “During the court session at Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court, five of Saeed Malekpour’s interrogators were present to testify against him along with another five individuals who were present as witnesses against him. Those 5 individuals who testified against him were people whose names had been on the Gerdab website as managers along with Saeed. The interrogators were supposedly there to answer technical questions but they had no knowledge whatsoever and were not able to answer questions posed by the defendant’s attorney. Saeed’s family and attorney made numerous requests for neutral judiciary-trusted IT experts to study and investigate his case and share their findings in court, but their requests were denied. The court handed down a verdict after 2 weeks.
Previously the country’s Supreme Court struck down the execution verdict that was handed down to Saeed stemming from charges of alleged involvement in obscene websites, and ordered a new trial to take place. Saeed’s court dossier was then returned to Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court for review while he remained behind bars.
Saeed Malekpour, born in 1975, is a Material Science Engineer who received his undergraduate degree from the prestigious Sharif University. He worked in Iran at a research center and as an inspector. He was a resident of Canada before his arrest. He was accepted to Canada’s Victoria University and had moved there for his graduate studies.
Saeed travelled to Iran from Canada to visit his ailing father in 2008. While in Iran, plainclothes officials arrested him and he was kept at Evin prison in solitary confinement for almost a year without access to legal representation.
According to his family and lawyer, the charges against Saeed are false; he is an IT expert whose programs were used without his knowledge in adult websites. Saeed in a letter from prison explained the inaccuracy of the trumped up charges against him and said that if his programs were used by the specified websites, he had not been aware of it.
Saeed was transferred 9 months ago from the public ward 350 of Evin prison to the cells in ward 2A of the prison, which is under the supervision of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC). He has spent the past 9 months in this section, the same ward he was held in the first year of his incarceration.
Saeed’s mother, Akram Esmailzadeh spoke to Human Rights House of Iran.
“About 9 months ago, they transferred Saeed back to ward 2A. They said this was because of the letter he had written while behind bars in ward 350. This is why he has been transferred out of the public ward. But this time he is not in solitary confinement; he is in a cell with 4 other prisoners where the conditions and food is better than in solitary.”
Saeed Malekpour’s mother who is in not in good health and exibits deep worry for her son continued, “I am a tormented mother, during this long period that Saeed has spent behind bars I have endured intense hardships along with my other children, and my husband who passed away. Saeed’s father had cancer. About one year after Saeed’s arrest, his father lost his life. The physical condition of Saeed’s ailing father rapidly deteriorated as he agonized over his son’s incarceration.”
With tears streaming down, Esmailzadeh continued. “These are not characteristics of my son, I have not taught my son to lie. The charges against Saeed cannot possibly be true. My Saeed is a principled boy; he put his brother and sister through universities so now they have a college education. We have endured great hardships during this time. I am a mother. I can’t bare the thought of my Saeed being held in prison. I cannot believe that 4 years have gone by with Saeed behind bars in Evin prison. It is excruciating for us to tolerate this situation. I don’t know what I’m supposed to do.”
Saeed Malekpour’s mother spoke to Human Rights House of Iran regarding the recent sentencing and the verdict that is to be handed down to her son.
“I pray to god they don’t give him the death penalty again. I can’t bear this any longer. During this period I have written so many letters to so many places. I thank the legislators for responding to my letter, saying they will pursue this matter. I had written letters to others too; the presidency, to Mr. Khamenei, to judicial authorities. But I only heard back from the legislators and I thank them for that. We don’t have any issues with anyone. We are not a political family. I just want my son to be set free. I am a suffering mother. I raised my children under difficult conditions. Their father was sick and I worked hard so I could provide my children with an education. I am barely educated myself but I taught my children to never inflict pain on any human being. I taught them to be positive, contributing members of society.”
Akram Esmailzadeh spoke of her visitations with her son.
“It has become much better than it used to be. They allow us to see Saeed once every 2 months. At the beginning it was not good. I could only see him every 4 to 5 months. Now every once in a while the prison officials even allow him to make a short contact from jail. The encounters are good. They provide us a nice room for in-person visits and even serve us [tea]. They are nice to us and treat us with dignity. Saeed’s brother and sister visit him too, but I don’t take my other daughter to visit her brother. She suffers from severe depression stemming from Saeed’s incarceration and her condition worsens if she comes to the prison.”
Saeed Malekpour’s mother discussed the circumstances of her son’s arrest.
“He had just returned to Iran to visit his ailing father. On the day of his arrest he had gone to buy medicines for his sick father. We waited and waited but he never returned until nighttime. When he finally came home, several individuals who entered with him and started to search our home accompanied him. Their behavior was fine and they were not rude. They left with Saeed and took some of our personal items such as computers and even medicines and books, which were returned to us later. After 3 days Saeed called us in tears and said ‘please bless me.’ For months we had no idea where he was being held and for what reason he had been arrested. After 4 months the Revolutionary Court informed us that Saeed was being held in Evin prison and we were finally allowed to visit Saeed in prison.”
Saeed Malekpour moved to Canada in 2004 and travelled to Iran in 2008 in order to visit his ailing father. IRG forces arrested him and Saeed spent almost the entire first year of his incarceration behind bars in solitary confinement. His wife, Zahra Eftekhari wrote in a letter that was published about a year ago, in which she shared that when she visited her husband he had visible signs of torture on his body.
In a published letter that Saeed Malekpour wrote while behind bars, he relayed the severe torture he endured especially during the time he spent in ward 2A.
“Most of the times groups of interrogators would torture me at the same time. While I was blindfolded and handcuffed several individuals would kick me and beat me armed with cables, batons, whips, and their fists. They struck me all over my body including at times my face and neck. Their actions were 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 written scenarios. Sometimes they used electric shock, which was excruciatingly painful and for moments rendered me immobile. During a torture session in September 2008 while I was naked and blindfolded they threatened to rape me with a water bottle. During the interrogations the force of the lashes, the kicks and punches to my face were so fierce, my whole face had become severely swollen. I passed out from the intensity many times during these interrogations and they would pour water on my face to wake me up.”
Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court sentenced Saeed Malekpour to death stemming from charges of “management of pornographic sites, insulting the clergy, insulting the leadership, insulting the president, affiliation with anti-government groups, and corruption on earth.”
Source: Rahana, October 30, 2011
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