Time is running out for a Canadian resident on death row in Iran.
Saeed Malekpour, 36, was convicted on charges he was “desecrating and insulting Islam” by running a pornographic website. He was sentenced to death in October 2011. The punishment was upheld by the Iranian Supreme Court in January.
Malekpour’s supporters say all he did was design a program which unbeknownst to him, some pornographic websites then used to upload pictures.
Maryam Nayeb Yazdi is on a desperate mission to save Malekpour’s life. She insists he is innocent. “He gave about 30 hours of false confessions under torture.”
Malkepour’s ‘confession’ aired on Iranian state television. He contends he only did it because he was being tortured.
During an October 2008 visit to his dying father, Malekpour was arrested. The software developer was then tossed into Evin prison in Tehran, spending more than a year in solitary confinement – where he says he was tortured – for “insulting the sanctity of Islam.”
Amnesty International says he was denied access to a lawyer during much of this time.
Malekpour was convicted in December 2010.
Marina Nemat knows all too well the kind of torture Malekpour might have gone through at Evin. She spent two years there as a teenager, where she was tied to a bed and had her feet lashed with a cable.
“You think you are going to pass out because the pain is so horrific, so it’s difficult to comprehend. ‘How can it take this long?’ but you don’t pass out… And I am sure the same thing happened to Saeed, and eventually (officials) told him you have to say this (confession).”
Political activist Salman Sima thinks Malekpour was beaten. “By looking at Saeed’s face, it was clear that his jaw was broken.”
Sima spent some time in jail with Malekpour. Sima says the web programmer was suffering, knowing a death sentence could be carried out at any time.
The international community appears to be responding. The European Union has called on Iran to halt the execution. Canada has as well, but Foreign Affairs says Iran refuses to discuss his case.
Alex Neve, Amnesty International Canada’s secretary-general, says the pressure has to be cranked up.
“There are somewhere between two to three people a day, on average, being executed in Iran.”
Yazdi says Malekpour’s family is trying to keep up hope. “We just need this nightmare to end.”
According to Amnesty International, Malekpour had been living in Canada since 2005.
A protest has been planned for Sunday afternoon outside the Iranian embassy in Ottawa.
With files from Christina Stevens
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