Send e-letters to UN & World Leaders urging them to help save Saeed Malekpour

E-letter last updated 02/01/11

Background
Saeed Malekpour is a 35-year-old prisoner of conscience who was imprisoned in October of 2008 while visiting his terminally ill father in Iran, for case of relating to “internet offenses.” The charges brought against Saeed include “Taking action against national security by designing and moderating adult content websites;” “Agitation against the regime;” “Contact with foreign entities;” “Insulting the sanctity of Islam;” and “Insulting the Supreme Leader and President.” He could be charged as “Corrupter of the Earth” (Mofsed fel-Arz), a charge that is punishable by the death sentence. Saeed continues to deny these vague allegations.

In 2004, Saeed and his wife moved to Canada, where he became a permanent resident. He began work as a freelance website developer & programmer responsible for developing only parts of websites or portions involving, for example, IT system management and system security. While working as developer in Canada, Saeed designed a program that would allow his clients to upload pictures, and as is a common courtesy in programming, included his name and info in the file. This program, Saeed’s wife – Dr. Fatimeh Eftekhari – explains, was used in an adult content website WITHOUT Saeed’s knowledge or approval. “The only recognizable name in the program was Saeed’s,” she continued, “which led to his arrest” and to the accusations claiming that Saeed was responsible for the development and administration of the website.

In an open letter, Saeed described the physical and psychological tortures at the hands of the Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Cyber Army which pressured him to false confessions. Since his arrest, Saeed remains confined in Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison without indictment or access to a lawyer. Saeed has spent more than 12 months in solitary confinement and denied books, newspapers, and contact with the outside world.

Stay updated on his case here: http://peoplewithoutnation.wordpress.com/

Directions
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If you have any questions, feel free to e-mail us at info@united4iran.org

Subject:

Your Letter:

Your Excellency,

I write to you out of deep concern for Saeed Malekpour, a permanent resident of Canada who was detained by the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) in October 2008 for “internet offenses.” He was sentenced to death in December 2010  without having had regular access to a lawyer, resources to defend himself, or legitimate due process. Canada’s own Spokesman for the Department of Foreign Affairs has noted that the case “appears to be another case in which someone in Iran is facing a death sentence after a highly questionable process.”

As the IRI is averaging one execution every eight hours, and in light of the recent execution of Dutch-Iranian post-election protestor, Zahra Bahrami, it is imperative that international human rights community take action on Mr. Malekpour’s behalf immediately.

The 35-year-old and his wife moved to Canada in 2004, where he began work as a freelance website developer & programmer. During this time, Mr. Malekpour designed a program that would allow his clients to upload pictures, and, as is a common courtesy in coding, included his name and information in the file. The program was later used as part of an adult content website WITHOUT Mr. Malekpour’s consent or knowledge. Because his was the only recognizable name associated with the website, Mr. Malekpour was arrested in October 2008, after returning to Iran to see his terminally ill father, on the false allegation of “developing an adult website.”

Mr. Malekpour’s initial baseless and politically motivated charges include “agitation against the regime”; “contact with foreign entities”; and “insulting the sanctity of Islam”. In March 2010, he wrote an open letter that detailed how his confessions were extracted under immense pressure, torture, threats, and false promises of release, leniency, and bail. In response to the open letter, the IRI returned Mr. Malekpour to solitary confinement and tacked on an additional baseless charge as retribution: “propaganda against the Islamic Republic.”

Because this Internet law case is full of technical terms and nuances, there is little knowledge or understanding of the “evidence.” Mr. Malekpour has continually been denied access to the resources he needs to disprove the accusations and requests for the IRI’s judiciary-trusted IT experts to investigate the case file.

On January 22, 2011, Mr. Malekpour was taken to Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court, where he faced a second round of politically motivated charges, including “collusion with his wife to act against national security”; "propaganda against the Islamic Republic of Iran;" and “agitating the public mind”. Because neither his family nor his lawyer was informed of the recent trial, Mr. Malekpour had no legal representation. He ultimately refused to defend himself during the trial, instead insisting that his lawyer be present. He has been unable to work with his lawyer due to his prolonged solitary confinement in Ward 2-A of Evin prison.

The IRI continues to violate the rights standards set forth by Articles 10, 11, and 12 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), Article 10 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the “Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners” as detailed by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

I hope that you can take concrete action on behalf of Saeed Malekpour, rise to the challenge faced by the international community, and lead the charge in drawing attention to his case, the endured abuses, false confessions, torture, and execution sentence.

To this end, I urge you: please use every mechanism at your disposal to save Saeed Malekpour. Please, work with the international community to urge the Islamic Republic of Iran to institute an immediate moratorium on all execution sentences and to conduct independent reviews of all pending death penalty cases, including Mr. Malekpour’s.

With the integrity of the international human rights community at stake, I beg you and your colleagues to work to ensure that the IRI adheres to international human rights standards.  I plead that you work with your colleagues to urge the Islamic Republic of Iran to afford Mr. Malekpour his due rights, a fair trial, access to independent legal representation, medical care, freedom from physical and psychological torture, and most importantly, a halt to his execution and assurance of his safe release.

Thank you for listening to my concerns. I look forward to your response.

Your Sincerely,

Navanethem Pillay

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights

Malick El Hadji Sow

Chairperson - Working Group on Arbitrary Detention

Ban-ki Moon

United Nations Secretary-General

Permanent Mission of Canada to the United Nations

Uri Rosenthal

NL - Minister of Foreign Affairs

Ne

United Nations Registry

Michael Spindelegger

Austria

Steven Vanackere

Belgium

Jan Kohout

Czech Republic

Guido Westerwelle

Germany

Peter Balazs

Hungary

Michael Martin

Ireland

Franco Frattini

Italy

Jonas Gahr Store

Norway

Carl Bildt

Sweden

Micheline Calmy-Rey

Switzerland

David Cameron

Prime Minister

GB

Dennis Horak

Embassy of Canada in Iran (Tehran)

Ir

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