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 ShahidKeshvar 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