Please contact the Prime Minister of Canada and request from him to intervene in Saeed Malekpour’s case. Saeed may be executed at any moment!
Stephen Harper
Telephone: 613-992-4211
Fax: 613-941-6900
E-Mail: stephen.harper@parl.gc.ca
We are truly grateful to everyone who participated in today’s amazing Tweet Storm. Thank you to @roya_sabz for organizing it. Thank you for also remembering the others on death row.
Free Saeed Malekpour! #SOS4Saeed
RT @Zealous_Iranian Well done guys. We got #SOS4Saeed on twitter stories. Now let’s get #SaeedMalekpour free! #Iran#HumanRights http://pic.twitter.com/kmkUJ2h8
Radio Zamaneh, 9 March 2012 | Saeed Malekpour’s sister says his family has not heard from him in 50 days and they fear that he may be executed at any time.
The International Campaign for Human Rights reported yesterday that Maryam Malekpour, the sister of the Iranian detainee currently on death row, said: “We have not been allowed to visit him in the past 50 days and we are completely in the dark. Our letters and requests for visitations have also been left unanswered.”
Maryam Malekpour goes on to say: “Saeed’s execution may be carried out any moment. I beseech the judicial authorities of my country to stop this sentence. We have written many letters that have remained unanswered but we are still hopeful that the authorities will halt the execution.”
Malekpour, a 36-year-old software designer and an engineering graduate from Iran’s top university, Sanaati Sharif, has been under arrest for more than three years. He is charged with “propaganda against the regime by designing obscene websites, insulting sanctities, insulting the president, links to anti-government groups and corruption on earth.” In a nationally televised report, he was shown admitting to these charges. He has since declared that those confessions were coerced and that he made them under duress.
He has written to the head of the judiciary, Ayatollah Larijani, indicating that he made the confessions “under fierce pressure, torture, threats and false promises of release on bail and amelioration of my situation.”
In his letter he lists “flogging, the threat of sexual abuse, interrogations leading to broken teeth, dislocation of haws and temporary paralysis in parts of my body” as examples of the torture he’s been subjected to.
Last month, several of his cellmates released a statement calling for a re-examination of his case, declaring that he has repeatedly reassured them that his confessions were made under torture, adding that his body still carries the marks of his ordeal.
DOCUMENT – IRAN: WEB PROGRAMMER AT RISK OF EXECUTION IN IRAN: SAEED MALEKPOUR
Index: UA 55/12 MDE 13/008/2012 Iran Date: 17 February 2012
URGENT ACTION
Web programmer AT RISK OF EXECUTION IN IRAN
W eb programmer Saeed Malekpour could be executed at any time in Iran . His death sentence was confirmed by the Supreme Court on 17 January 2012 and a court official has indicated that his death sentence may have now been sent for implementation .
Saeed Malekpour, a resident of Canada and Iranian national, aged 36, was again sentenced to death on 19 October 2011 by Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court, and it was confirmed by Branch 32 of the Supreme Court on 17 January 2012. On 14 February 2012, one of Saeed Malekpour’s lawyers visited both courts to ask about his case, but learned that the file was being held at neither court. Comments from a court official suggested that this is because Saeed Malekpour’s file has been sent to the Office of Implementation of Sentences.
Saeed Malekpour was sentenced to death for “insulting and desecrating Islam” after a programme he had developed for uploading photos online had been used to post pornographic images without his knowledge. Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court sentenced him to death in October 2010 following a trial that reportedly only lasted 15 minutes. After a June 2011 announcement that the Supreme Court had returned the case for further review, Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court imposed again the death sentence as well as prison sentence of seven and a-half years. Amnesty International understands that although he has legal representation now, for much of his detention Saeed Malekpour has had no access to legal counsel.
Saeed Malekpour had been living in Canada since 2005, but was arrested in October 2008 while visiting his family in Iran. He was allegedly tortured while held for over a year in solitary confinement in Tehran’s Evin prison. In 2009, Iranian state television repeatedly aired a “confession” by Saeed. In an open letter dated March 2010, Saeed Malekpour stated his “confession” was extracted after prolonged torture following orders by Revolutionary Guard interrogators.
PLEASE WRITE IMMEDIATELY in Persian, English or your own language :
Calling on the Iranian authorities to not execute Saeed Malekpour;
Expressing concern that Saeed Malekpour did not have a fair trial, and to disregard as evidence in court “confessions” which may have been coerced;
Reminding the Iranian authorities that under international law, the death penalty can only be carried out for “the most serious crimes”, which must be “intentional crimes with lethal or other extremely grave consequences”.
P LEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE 30 MARCH 2012 TO :
Leader of the Islamic Republic
Ayatollah Sayed ‘Ali Khamenei
The Office of the Supreme Leader
Islamic Republic Street – End of Shahid Keshvar Doust Street, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: info_leader@leader.ir
Twitter: “Call on #Iran leader @khamenei_ir to halt the execution of Saeed Malekpour Salutation: Your Excellency
Head of the Judiciary
Ayatollah Sadegh Larijani
[care of] Public relations Office
Number 4, 2 Azizi Street
Vali Asr Ave., above Pasteur Street intersection
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran Email: bia.judi@yahoo.com (In subject line: FAO Ayatollah Sadegh Larijani)
Salutation: Your Excellency
And copies to:
Secretary General, High Council for Human Rights
Mohammad Javad Larijani
High Council for Human Rights
[Care of] Office of the Head of the Judiciary, Pasteur St., Vali Asr Ave. south of Serah-e Jomhouri, Tehran 1316814737, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: info@humanrights-iran.ir
(subject line: FAO Mohammad Javad Larijani)
Also send copies to diplomatic representatives accredited to your country.
Please check with your section office if sending appeals after the above date.
URGENT ACTION
Web programmer AT RISK OF EXECUTION IN IRAN
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Saeed Malekpour has been in detention since his arrest on 4 October 2008. In a March 2010 letter he wrote about his arrest: “a few agents physically beat me severely and verbally abused me, while I remained handcuffed and blindfolded. They forced me to sign a few forms, but I was not able to read the contents”. Saeed Malekpour was held in solitary confinement from his arrest until 16 August 2009 and during this time was denied contact with his family or legal counsel. Saeed Malekpour was again transferred to solitary confinement on 21 December 2009 and remained there until 8 February 2010. After being reportedly beaten by guards and kicked in the face in January 2009 , Saeed Malekpour’s jaw became dislocated. It is not known whether he received adequate medical care. In addition to this, Saeed Malekpour has had limited access to legal counsel throughout his detention and Amnesty International understands that his lawyer has been unable to file for a judicial review of the case.
Saeed Malekpour’s arrest in October 2008 was in relation to alleged cyber crime. Two other individuals were arrested around the same time: blogger Vahid Asghari, who had been studying information and computer technology in India prior to his arrest in 2008, and website administrator Ahmad Reza Hashempour. Both are also on death row after apparently unfair trials, awaiting execution in relation to their online activities.
In 2009, a group reportedly affiliated with the Revolutionary Guards, alleged that some individuals, including Saeed Malekpour, were part of “a network of decadence on the internet.” The 2009 Law on Cyber Crimes in Iran extended the death penalty to such crimes. A relatively new and shadowy “cyber army”, reportedly linked to the Revolutionary Guards, has also carried out attacks on websites at home and abroad, including the Twitter site and Voice of America.
Prior to his arrest, Saeed Malekpour had been living in Canada since 2005 and holds Canadian permanent residency. There has been ongoing campaigning in Canada for Saeed Malekpour’s release.
This year the Iranian authorities have acknowledged the execution of 41 people, including nine public executions. Amnesty International has received credible reports of 25 other executions which were not officially acknowledged, mostly of alleged drugs offenders.
Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which Iran is a state party, states the death penalty may be “imposed only for the most serious crimes”. In November 2011, the UN Human Rights Committee, which oversees implementation of the ICCPR, expressed concern about the number of death sentences imposed and carried out in Iran in its Concluding Observations. The Committee stated that the Iranian authorities “should consider abolishing the death penalty or at least revise the Penal Code to restrict the imposition of the death penalty to only the ‘most serious crimes’”.
Amnesty International opposes the death penalty unconditionally as the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment and violation of the right to life and is calling for all death sentences in Iran to be commuted.
Name: Saeed Malekpour
Gender m/f: m
UA 55/12 Index: MDE 13/008/2012 Issue Date: 17 February 2012
URGENT ACTION, February 16, 2012 | When Saeed Malekpour’s lawyers visited the Revolutionary Court two days ago to follow up on their client’s case file, they discovered that the file containing the death sentence ruling was no longer there, and it was not in the possession of the Supreme Court either. Saeed Malekpour’s lawyers were informed that this only meant that the case file was sent to the Circuit Court for Execution of Sentences.
One of Saeed’s lawyers said: ”If we [Saeed's lawyers] had a chance to review the case file, then we would have had a chance to prevent the execution of the sentence. By reviewing the case we could have pointed out that an expert has never been brought into the case for investigation. The case file was sent straight to the Circuit Court for Execution of Sentences.”
He continued: “Since Saeed Malekpour’s sentence is in the possession of the Circuit Court for Execution of Sentences, this means that they are capable of executing Saeed at any moment they wish.”
Saeed Malekpour was first sentenced to death in December 2010 following what appears to have been an unfair trial, without access to his lawyer. In March 2010, he wrote an open letter in which he declared that his confessions were extracted under immense pressure, torture, and false promises of release. He reported that he was forced to confess to crimes which he did not commit. He is detained in Evin Prison, has spent more than 12 months in solitary confinement and has been denied access to books, newspapers, and contact with the outside world. In June 2011, a lawyer for Saeed Malekpour announced that the death sentence was overturned. The file was sent for review and the death sentence was re-issued in Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court in November 2011. The Supreme Court has upheld the death sentence.
Take Action
Please write immediately :
- Urge the Iranian authorities not to carry out the death sentence against Saeed Malekpour.
- Ask them to release him immediately or bring him to trial on criminal charges in legal proceedings that fully confirm to international fair trial standards.
- Provide Mr. Malekpour with unrestricted access to his lawyer, and any medical treatment he may require.
- Urge them to immediately conduct an impartial investigation into Mr. Malekpour’s allegations of torture while he has been detained and ensure that any “confession” he may have made as a result of torture is not admitted as evidence against him, as this would violate Article 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) to which Iran is a state party.
Write to:
Leader of the Islamic Republic
Ayatollah Sayed ‘Ali KhameneiThe Office of the Supreme Leader
Islamic Republic Street – End of Shahid
Keshvar Doust Street, Tehran, Islamic
Republic of Iran
Email: info_leader@leader.ir
Salutation: Your Excellency
Head of the Judiciary
Ayatollah Sadegh Larijani
[care of] Public Relations Office
Number 4, 2 Azizi Street Vali Asr Ave.,
above Pasteur Street Intersection
Tehran,
Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: info@dadiran.ir or bia.judi@yahoo.com (In the subject line, write FAO Ayatollah Sadegh Larijani)
Salutation: Your Excellency
Also send a letter to Stephen Harper, the Prime Minister of Canada. Request that he personally intervene on behalf of Mr. Malekpour.
The Honourable Stephen Harper
Prime Minster of Canada
80 Wellington Street
Ottawa, ON K1A 0A2
Fax: 613-941-6900
E-mail: pm@pm.gc.ca
More Background
The Canadian government has sponsored a resolution censuring Iran at the United Nations General Assembly human rights committee, every year since the 2003 torture and death while in custody, of Iranian-Canadian journalist Zahra Kazemi in Iran. The resolution has expressed deep concern at serious ongoing human rights violations in the Islamic Republic of Iran. The violations include torture, flogging, amputations, stoning, and “pervasive gender inequality and violence against women.” Canada has also “particular concern” with the Iranian government’s failure to launch a thorough investigation of alleged human rights violations in the wake of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s contested re-election in 2009.
The Government of Canada has also raised concerns regarding Saeed Malekpour on a number of occasions. On 17 November 2010, in the House of Commons, former Parliamentary Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Deepak Obhrai expressed his indignation at the news of the unlawful detention of Saeed Malekpour, stating that Mr. Malekpour’s case is but one of the many cases in which someone in Iran is facing a death sentence after a highly questionable process and that Mr. Malekpour “has not had access to a lawyer.”
In a new year’s statement on January 1, 2011 the then Minister of Foreign Affairs, Lawrence Cannon, expressed deep concern for the “deteriorating human rights situation in Iran.” He expressed particular concern for the uncertain fate of two Canadians of dual nationality who remain in prison in Iran. (Hamid Ghassemi- Shall and Hossein Derakhshan). He further referred to reports that Saeed Malekpour, a Canadian permanent resident, has been condemned to death and that his sentence could be carried out at any time. Minister Cannon encouraged the Iranian authorities to show mercy and compassion to those who are in Iran’s prisons without just cause, and called on Iran to respect its international human rights obligations in law and in practice and to foster a more open dialogue with the international community.
On January 17, 2012, John Baird, Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, is reported to have criticized the Iranian court’s decision. “Canada condemns Iran’s reported decision to execute Mr. Malekpour,” he said. “Sadly, his case is far from the only example of Iran’s utter disregard for human life. The regime in Tehran frequently ignores principles like due process for its citizens domestically, and international human rights obligations generally.”
https://www.amnesty.org/en/news/iran-must-halt-execution-web-programmer-2012-01-19
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Canadian resident is once again in danger of execution
“International community, react now. Saeed must receive a fair trial!”
Sadly, as part of a political ploy initiated by the IRGC “Cyber Counterattack” team, Saeed Malekpour, a 36-year-old Canadian resident and freelance computer programmer, who has been illegally imprisoned in Iran for the past three years, is once again faced with the danger of execution. Last year, Judge Moghiseh in branch 28 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court sentenced Saeed to die based on lengthy and unfounded charges including “Insulting and desecrating the principles of Islam…”.With great relief, one of Saeed’s lawyers officially announced in summer 2011 that the Supreme Court had “quashed” the death sentence. However, in a turn of events, the Supreme Court declared months later it was unable to reach a voting decision on Saeed’s case due to existing discrepancies in the file that required resolving. The problem for the Supreme Court judges was that they were unable to state affirmatively if Saeed’s trial was fair and legal. Additionally, Saeed’s lawyer had stated in his report to the Supreme Court that his client’s hours of self-incriminating confessions were false and extracted under torture.In order for the discrepancies to be resolved, the Supreme Court returned Saeed’s case file to the same branch and judge in the Revolutionary Court. Judge Moghiseh, ignoring the need to fix the discrepancies, re-issued the death sentence to Saeed in a brief and illegal court hearing. Saeed’s case file was then returned to the Supreme Court for a new decision to be made.Now, Saeed and his family and friends wait apprehensively. They are hoping that the Supreme Court will act in the legal manner of addressing the unresolved discrepancies. The Supreme Court’s decision can arrive as early as this week.As the internal political and economical tensions rise in Iran, regime authorities are visibly becoming more desperate to carry out new suppressive measures against Iranian citizens. Human rights activists and analysts believe that the regime’s main objective is to further vilify the act of information-spreading so Iranians become increasingly silenced by their own fear. Fortunately, brutal assaults on the free-flow of information have moved the international community to speak louder in support of suppressed citizens.Due to the sensitive nature surrounding Saeed Malekpour’s case, world leaders are urged to act immediately to save him from imminent execution. People like Saeed, who have never received legal treatment by the Iranian Judiciary, risk execution because they are being used as scapegoats to fulfill the oppressive regime’s shameful crusade against humanity. For the chance to remain alive, Saeed requires the supportive voices of concerned citizens around the world.
CONTACT
Maryam Nayeb Yazdi,
Saeed Malekpour Campaign Coordinator
Phone | +14168450453
Email | maryam.nayebyazdi {at} gmail.com
Saeed Malekpour - سعید ملکپور
یک مقیم کانادا بار دیگر در خطر اعدام قرار دارد “جامعه بین المللی باید فورا اقدام کند. سعید باید از حق یک دادگاه عادلانه برخوردار شود”. متاسفانه در ادامه بازی سیاسی که توسط گروه “پدافند سایبری” سپاه پاسداران انقلاب اسلامی آغاز شد، سعید ملک پور، مقیم کانادا و برنامه نویس مستقل و آزاد کامپیوتر و دانش آموخته صنعتی شریف که از سه سال گذشته به شکل غیر قانونی در ایران زندانی است، بار دیگر با خطر اعدام مواجه است. سال گذشته، قاضی مقییسه، رییس شعبه 28 دادگاه انقلاب تهران سعید را برمبنای یک لیست بلند اتهامات بدون پایه و اساس از جمله “توهین به مقدسات و اصول اسلام…” به اعدام محکوم کرد. خبر نقض حکم اعدام توسط دیوان عالی که در تابستان ۱۳۹۰ توسط یکی از وکلای سعید ملک پور اعلام شد موجب دلگرمی بسیاری گشت. اما در یک چرخش وقایع، دیوان عالی مدتی پیش اعلام کرد که قادر به اخذ تصمیم درباره پرونده سعید به دلیل تناقضات موجود نمی باشد. مشکل قضات دیوان عالی این بود که قادر نبودند ثابت کنند که دادگاه سعید منصفانه و قانونی بوده است. به علاوه، وکیل سعید در متن دفاعیه که به دیوان عالی ارائه شده بود اظهار کرده بود که اعترافات موکل او علیه خودش کذب بوده و تحت شکنجه اخذ گردیده است. به منظور حل و فصل تناقضات موجود در پرونده، دیوان عالی پرونده سعید را به همان شعبه و قاضی دادگاه انقلاب که پیشتر او را به مرگ محکوم کرده بود فرستاد. قاضی مقیسه بدون توجه به لزوم حل تناقضات بار دیگر حکم اعدام سعید را در یک حکم مختصر و غیر قانونی صادر کرد. پرونده سعید بار دیگر به دیوان عالی برای یک تصمیم جدید فرستاده شده است. هم اکنون، سعید و خانواده و دوستانش با نگرانی در انتظار تصمیم سرنوشت ساز دیوان عالی هستند. آنها امیدوارند که دیوان عالی به شکل قانونی در جهت حل تناقضات موجود در پرونده عمل کند.حکم دیوان عالی می تواند در همین هفته صادر شود. با افزایش تنش سیاسی و اقتصادی در ایران، مقامات حکومتی به شکل آشکار مستاصل و درمانده گشته و در صدد اجرای اقدامات تازه سرکوبگرانه علیه شهروندان ایرانی می باشند. فعالین حقوق بشر و تحلیل گران بر این باورند که هدف اصلی نظام حکومتی در ایران خطرناک جلوه دادن عمل اطلاع رسانی می باشد تا صدای ایرانیان را به واسطه ترس و هراسی که در وجودشان می افکنند خاموش کنند. با توجه به حساسیت موجود در پرونده سعید ملکپور، از رهبران جهان مصرانه درخواست می گردد تا فورا در جهت حفظ جان سعید ملک پور از اعدام قریب الوقوع اقدام کنند. افرادی مانند سعید که هیچگاه از برخورد قانونی قوه قضاییه ایران بهره مند نشده اند در خطر اعدام قرار دارند تا به عنوان برگ برنده نظام سرکوبگر در راستای تلاش بی شرمانه اش علیه انسانیت مورد استفاده قرار گیرند. سعید برای اینکه شانسی برای زنده ماندن داشته باشد نیازمند صدای حمایتگر تمام شهروندان دل نگران می باشد.
ت
: تماس
آرمان رضاخانی،
هماهنگ کننده کمپین سعید ملک پور
تلفن :۰۰۱۴۱۶۸۴۵۰۴۵۳
ایمیل : yes.sabz@gmail.com
