“Iran Executions – Fatemeh Eftekhari”

“Saeed Malekpour has spent the last two years in an Iranian jail. And now, it appears his execution is imminent. Saeed Malekpour is a permanent resident of Canada. He went back to Iran in the fall of 2008, to visit his father who was terminally ill. He was arrested on charges involving internet pornography.

For months, he has languished in prison. And now, amidst a significant increase in the number of executions in Iran, news reports suggest he is about to be executed.
Fatemeh Eftekhari is Saeed Malekpour’s wife. She was in our Toronto studio.

We requested a response from the Prime Minister’s office in this case. We received a statement that reads in part:

Canada is outraged by Iran’s continued disdain for the rights of Iranian and dual-national citizens, and by the recent wave of executions in Iran. We are particularly concerned about Saeed Malekpour, a permanent resident of Canada, who was condemned to death when the Iranian regime deemed software he created to be offensive. Iran has repeatedly refused Canada’s requests to allow us to visit Mr. Malekpour and provide assistance to him on humanitarian grounds. We have made this request to both the Iranian Embassy in Ottawa and to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Tehran. Mr. Malekpour, along with many other Iranians, faces a disproportionately harsh punishment for dubious offences, after a highly questionable legal process.”

As I understand it, Mr. Malekpour simply designed software allowing photo uploads to the internet, and had nothing to do with posting the pornographic photos himself.

Nice government they have in Iran.