Radio Zamaneh
  • Home
  • Labor Rights
  • Advertise
  • About Zamaneh Media
    • Exiled Media Report
    • Sponsors
    • Donate
    • Vacancies
    • Contact us
    • Legal
    • Republishing Guidelines
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Labor Rights
  • Advertise
  • About Zamaneh Media
    • Exiled Media Report
    • Sponsors
    • Donate
    • Vacancies
    • Contact us
    • Legal
    • Republishing Guidelines
No Result
View All Result
Radio Zamaneh
No Result
View All Result

Malekpour’s death sentence challenged by Iran’s academic community

by Zamaneh Media
February 10, 2011
in Latest Articles
Reading Time: 2 mins read
0
Malekpour’s death sentence challenged by Iran’s academic community
Saeed Malekpour

More than 500 alumni of Sharif University and scores of other Iranian students and academics have issued an open letter protesting the death sentence of Saeed Malekpour, an Iranian web developer accused of setting up “pornographic websites.”

The 35-year-old metallurgy graduate of Sharif University, one of Iran’s top universities, has been in prison since September of 2008.

Malekpour is also a computer software designer, and his charges are linked to his expertise in that area.

At the time of his arrest, Malekpour was a Canadian resident. On a trip to Iran, he was arrested and charged with “designing and operating pornographic websites, rioting against the regime and insulting Islamic sanctities.” The authorities claim Malekpour confessed to these crimes while in custody.

Malekpour, however, has recently written a letter to the Ayatollah Sadegh Larijani, the head of Iran’s judiciary, insisting that his so-called confessions were obtained “under severe pressure, torture, threats and false promises of release on bail and leniency.”

In his letter, Malekpour claims to have been “flogged and threatened with sexual abuse” and adds that his teeth and jaws were broken from the beatings during interrogation.

The judiciary has made no response to Malekpour’s letter, and his death sentence remains in force.

In the open letter published today, Iranian students and academic elite write: “The main evidence for this death sentence is one of the hundreds of computer programs written by Saeed throughout his professional life, which was actually used without his knowledge on an internet site. And yet Saeed is deprived of the least possibility of defending himself.”

They add: “Any internet accusation against Saeed should be brought against him in an open and official trial adhering to all legal regulations, in the presence of a jury and with the participation of computer experts that are considered qualified and independent by Iran’s scientific community.”

The signatories of the letter maintain that a death sentence, even for the actual organizers of the said website, is an unjust ruling.

On January 30, Tehran’s prosecutor announced that two directors of pornographic websites had received the death penalty, and their sentence is now being reviewed by the Supreme Court for final approval.

Fatemeh Eftekhari, Malekpour’s wife, has sent a letter to the judiciary indicating the charges against her husband are invalid, and a computer science expert would easily attest to this.

Related Posts

Re-reading Bahmanyar, a prominent Tajik writer
Featured Items

Re-reading Bahmanyar, a prominent Tajik writer

July 14, 2025
Condemned for Compassion: The Death Sentence of Rezgar Beigzadeh Babamiri
Latest Articles

Condemned for Compassion: The Death Sentence of Rezgar Beigzadeh Babamiri

July 9, 2025
A Collective Statement by Men Advocating for Gender and Sexual Equality: Let Us End This Silence and Complicity
Human Rights

A Collective Statement by Men Advocating for Gender and Sexual Equality: Let Us End This Silence and Complicity

June 14, 2025
The Light Carried Forward: Migration, Exile, Flight and Cinematic Creation
Latest Articles

The Light Carried Forward: Migration, Exile, Flight and Cinematic Creation

May 9, 2025
A Dutch Artist Inspired by Women, Life, and Freedom in Iran: An Interview with Rienke Enghardt
Latest Articles

A Dutch Artist Inspired by Women, Life, and Freedom in Iran: An Interview with Rienke Enghardt

September 23, 2024
Afghan Migrants Speak Out: Legal Residents Expelled from Iran
Human Rights

Afghan Migrants Speak Out: Legal Residents Expelled from Iran

August 16, 2024
Radio Zamaneh

© 2024 Zamaneh Media

More information

  • Sponsors
  • Donate
  • About us
  • Contact us
  • Legal

Follow Us

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Labor Rights
  • Advertise
  • About Zamaneh Media
    • Exiled Media Report
    • Sponsors
    • Donate
    • Vacancies
    • Contact us
    • Legal
    • Republishing Guidelines

© 2024 Zamaneh Media