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Iranian Web Programmer’s Death Sentence to Be Carried Out Any Moment

273 points by pooriaazimi 15y ago

pooriaazimi 15y ago
Related HN submission: Death sentence for Iranian web programmer – http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3484674 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3484674 (28 days ago)
cobrausn 15y ago
As annoyed as I often get at my country, it is things like this that make me glad to be here and able to voice opinion about all its flaws without fear of something like this. Occasionally I might have some regrets about my time in the service, but not today. I just wish there was something we could do for this guy - I hate knowing what I know about it and also being completely powerless to influence the outcome of this in any way at all.
- rhizome 15y ago
  Sometimes all a person can do is wish they were born somewhere or sometime else.
- peterwwillis 15y ago
  You can do something. Our country's foreign relations with Iran may really shaky but that doesn't stop us from being able to officially condemn their behavior, which the international community will hear, and potentially echo. Write your representatives and tell them how you feel and that they should do something about it.
  - Jach 15y ago
    All an echoed Official Condemnation will do is make the US more likely to invade Iran. It won't make Iran's behaviors less frequent. So I don't think an Official Condemnation by the country is a good thing, and I don't think it should happen unless we intend to start something; though others think this time will be different and we would be greeted as liberators if we invaded...
    - afterburner 15y ago
      The US won't invade Iran. They might bomb it, but never invade. Too many people, terrain too difficult. 2.5 times more people than Iraq, and 10 times more rugged terrain. Also, they've never been there before, so operationally it's a far more daunting prospect even without considering the already huge challenges. People might think "oh it could just turn into another Iraq." But, really, it can't. Not that pushing back isn't a bad idea. But, really, it can't. If anything happens, it'll be all bombs.
      - InclinedPlane 15y ago
        People said the same thing about Afghanistan, and Iraq too. Just because something is difficult doesn't rule out it happening at some future date. It's even more challenging to try to deal with North Korea militarily, but it would be silly to rule out the possibility entirely. The future of Iran, and of Pakistan too, is crucially important to the future security or insecurity of the entire world. Who can say what future developments may bring?
        afterburner 15y ago
        About Afghanistan: the CIA had been involved in Afghanistan for decades. They had volumes of information, and allies. Russian involvement made a lot of information available (spies) and set the country up for interventionist scenarios. With Iraq, the entire military had been there 10 years before. Those are not the case in Iran. It's much more of an unknown. And frankly, Afghanistan really is easier to invade, so I'm not sure invading was such a shock as you claim, especially coming a mere 20 years after the Russian invasion. It's a country divided into self-interested warlord factions. Achieving any kind of lasting effect, that's another thing entirely... but sitting around having pot-shots taken at you, no problem. Especially if you can back it up with cash. Sure, who knows what can happen. But it would practically have to be a new world order, slanted towards that possibility. So that's not a good reason for keeping a lid on any talk of Iran being unjust or unfair, just out of fear that such talk now would somehow contribute some fraction of a fraction towards intervention in some unknown, completely removed event in the distant future.
  - calibraxis 15y ago
    That unfortunately won't turn out to be the ethical thing to do. Our government overthrew Iran's secular, parliamentary democracy and installed the Shah — and it's still threatening them. (They fail to have a sufficiently obedient tyranny.) This proposal you mention is tantamount to supporting more attacks. Fortunately, there's a lot of room to really help out mideasterners — by getting our government off their backs and stop supporting their regimes. And anyone in an ethical mood need look no further than their own country! The US jails far more of its own people than any other country. On Feb 20, you can participate in a nearby Occupy 4 Prisoners. (http://occupy4prisoners.org/actions/ http://occupy4prisoners.org/actions/)
    - shareme 15y ago
      No, sorry that was GB and Russia that did that during WWI
      - nate_meurer 15y ago
        Operation Ajax. Look it up.
        tokenadult 15y ago
        An interesting result from Googling "Operation Ajax": https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/csi-studies/studies/vol48no2/article10.html https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intellig...
        nate_meurer 15y ago
        Fascinating, absolutely fascinating, that this is posted on cia.gov. This restores in me a teeny tiny bit of respect for my government. I've read Kinzer's book. I came away much less a fan of Winston Churchill than I was before. He was quite a tyrant when it came to preserving the empire.
    - shareme 15y ago
      No, sorry that was GB and Russia that did that during WWI
- rooshdi 15y ago
  https://www.facebook.com/Free.Saeed.Malekpor https://www.facebook.com/Free.Saeed.Malekpor Spread the word. We may not have time to save this man's life, but a growing public outcry may help save others like him. Let us not lose faith in the power of people to create change.
  - codesuela 15y ago
    typo in url: https://www.facebook.com/Free.Saeed.Malekpour https://www.facebook.com/Free.Saeed.Malekpour
- tomjen3 15y ago
  You weren't by any chance trained as an assasain or sharp-shooter or special force soldier? because if not, then there isn't much any of us can do. Sadly.
  - cobrausn 15y ago
    Considered SEALs at one point, ended up doing nuclear power work instead. Probably for the best - I wasn't very level headed in my younger days, and I'm not sure going into a gung-ho profession such as the SEALs would have helped matters. Technical work followed by college, on the other hand, did, and it's also what got me into programming. Having said that, there are still days when I sometimes wish I'd taken on the challenge. Nonetheless, I don't think a special-forces op to rescue a Canadian resident is actually in the works. If diplomatic approaches fail, this guy is going to die for writing software and video games that are critical of Iranian government. I feel equally guilty because my country (and others) overthrew their democratic government in 1953, meaning the current batch of goons is partially our fault. It actually makes me physically sad. EDIT: Corrected the incorrect date for the Mordad coup.
    - bostonpete 15y ago
      > I feel equally guilty because my country (and others) overthrew their democratic government in the 70s I think that was 1953.
    - tomjen3 15y ago
      Oh I am sure that there is no rescue in the works. That is kind why I wanted to convince you to go do it.
- smokeyj 15y ago
  If this happened in the U.S, you would have never heard of it.
  - cobrausn 15y ago
    Do you have any evidence of anyone in the US being convicted and put to death for writing software without anyone knowing about it, or is this just some additional snarky rhetoric being tossed about that mirrors your dim view of the US? Seriously, if the first, I would like to know. Unlike in Iran, I might be able to affect the outcome here.
    - smokeyj 15y ago
      I only said if it did happen here, you wouldn't know about it. I don't mean to offend your sense of patriotism. I still feel this statement is factual given the fact you're asking me for instances. Can I prove someone was secretly detained for voicing their opinion? No. It's a secret. This is like asking someone to prove they don't have something. What I do know is, due process has been suspended in the U.S via ndaa, the patriot act, and soon to be enemy expatriation act. I do know americans have been detained in gitmo for owning a casio watch. I have nothing against the U.S. I live here and enjoy the privileges the constitution affords me. But I feel it is important to be critical of our own government rather than saying 'hey, at least we're not IRAN'. That isn't a very high standard at all.
      - Karunamon 15y ago
        >I do know americans have been detained in gitmo for owning a casio watch. Really now? You'll have to pardon me for being skeptical of this. Americans have been detained in gitmo, absent any other evidence, for owning a particular model of watch? Citation badly needed. I'm afraid you are very foggy on the definition of "factual". Something isn't "factual" if there's no evidence to support it.
        smokeyj 15y ago
        http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Guantanamo_Bay_detainees_accused_of_possessing_Casio_watches http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Guantanamo_Bay_detainee...
JS_startup 15y ago
Wow, I'm actually stunned. The general consensus seemed to be that Iran would pardon him at the last minute and just have him exiled. Maybe that will still be the case?
lowglow 15y ago
I don't have words for how much this upsets me.
mgallivan 15y ago
Can someone explain the il/legality behind this? Articles say that the man is "a Canadian resident" - does this not affect where he can be tried?
- jauer 15y ago
  No. Basically crimes are tried in the jurisdiction where they are (allegedly) committed. If a jurisdiction feels someone committed a crime in their turf and the person never was or no longer is in the jurisdiction they make a ruling without the accused present ie In absentina.
- BenjaminCoe 15y ago
  I have a friend in Canada (also a web developer) who is from Iran. This underscores for me, their fears regarding visiting their home country. I'm pretty sure if you get arrested, even while visiting with permanent residence in a country such as Canada, you're pretty much screwed.
  - mgallivan 15y ago
    That's terrible - I wonder what the response would be if the man held dual-citizenship...
    - mhurron 15y ago
      If he held citizenship in any country in addition to or other than Iran, that country would have diplomatic channels to go through to deal with this. Specifically to this case, you would like to think Canada would do more then write a letter to the government of Iran if he had Canadian citizenship, but I do really doubt they would do more than 'tense negotiations.'
    - mahyarm 15y ago
      I don't think it would be much different from him being born in Canada, being called John Doe and having completely swedish ancestry and one Canadian passport.
- 15y ago
pooriaazimi 15y ago
Just two days ago, his sister Maryam Malekpour told[1] the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran: “[Saeed] has been pressured [by security forces] to make confessions before a television camera, which he has fortunately not accepted”. He didn't accept that, so now they're having him executed. [1] http://www.iranhumanrights.org/2012/02/malekpour-sister/ http://www.iranhumanrights.org/2012/02/malekpour-sister/
- zaroth 15y ago
  How do you know that they wouldn't have used the coerced confession to try to justify the execution?
faramarz 15y ago
Wow! That could have been me! During the 2008 post-election protests and the beginning of the green movement, I aggregated all the images coming out of Iran into my personal flickr account. BIG-STUPID-MISTAKE! These were brutal, news breaking images . Little did I know people and news organizations around the world were including these images in their articles, blogs, tweets etc and attributing me, and sometimes printing my full name as the original photographer. If you do a google search of my full name, you still come up with results like that (luckily not in the first page). I've tried unsuccessfully to get them removed. Seeing what is happening to Malekpour, I don't think it's safe to go back. Not anytime soon
- ocdprogrammer 15y ago
  I'm sorry, but you, him and even I, we are all guilty (there are high chances I watched some porn uploaded using his software). The only thing we can do is to stay out of Iran. If you don't stay out, it's like asking for punishment. And btw, i will never put a foot in USA also, cause who on earth knows what NSA may have on me.
- PedroCandeias 15y ago
  And there are still people arguing that we should no longer go by anything other than our real names online (facebook I'm looking at you).
  - blake8086 15y ago
    I think Facebook is arguing that you should no longer go by anything other than your real name on Facebook.
    - noarchy 15y ago
      The problem being, of course, that other sites are using FB for logins. Granted, this is a problem only if you consent to it.
    - rhizome 15y ago
      That's underselling, though.
jellicle 15y ago
Malekpour created porn websites. In particular, he created Persian porn websites - porn websites targeted at people who read Persian. Porn websites are against the law in Iran. He's an Iranian citizen. He traveled to Iran. I strongly disapprove of censorship, particularly censorship of the "death" kind. But he should perhaps have been a little bit more discerning about his travel plans. This anti-porn thing is not new or unexpected. What did he think would happen?
- skymt 15y ago
  The story I saw claimed that Malekpour developed open-source file-upload software that was later used by porn sites without his knowledge. Do you have a source for your claim that he was directly involved with the porn sites themselves? http://thenextweb.com/me/2012/01/19/death-sentence-for-iranian-programmer-accused-of-developing-software-used-by-porn-sites/ http://thenextweb.com/me/2012/01/19/death-sentence-for-irani...
- nathanwdavis 15y ago
  He was visiting his terminally-ill father.
- cullenking 15y ago
  From my understanding, he didn't create porn sites, he created a piece of open source software that porn sites have used. The last claims I read said they were forcing confessions from him via torture.
- pooriaazimi 15y ago
  From Wikipedia[1]: In October 2008, Malekpour visited his dying father in Iran. And he didn't create porn websites; he created photo-uploading softwares that were (later, and he says without his knowledge) used in porn sites. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saeed_Malekpour http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saeed_Malekpour
- shin_lao 15y ago
  So you're saying it's his fault if he's going to get executed? Next time you break the law and you get fined for it, I truly hope you will not complain because I'll teleport right next to you and say "what did you think would happen?". And we'll have a good laugh about it, because you will not die.
paulhauggis 15y ago
Another example of why Iran is an evil dictatorship.
- jrockway 15y ago
  Democracies have the death penalty, too. This is another example of why the death penalty is never an acceptable punishment for a crime; this guy hasn't even had a chance to appeal properly, and they're already planning to execute him. That's not justice, that's barbaric.
  - pooriaazimi 15y ago
    > This is another example of why the death penalty is never an acceptable punishment for a crime I disagree. Bashar al-Asad has killed 8300 Syrian in the past 11 months, and now the country is on the verge of civil war. Some crimes deserve death penalty (though, obviously writing an open-source app does not qualify!).
    - jrockway 15y ago
      The fact that the death penalty seems reasonable in one case doesn't make it reasonable. The death penalty is inappropriate because it doesn't have any checks and balances; if you are executed and later found not guilty, you can't be brought back to life. It's clear that fear of punishment does not deter crimes; otherwise death penalty states would have no murders.
  - koningrobot 15y ago
    How is this the lack of due process an argument against the death penalty? It doesn't follow.
    - hyperbovine 15y ago
      You assume due process is uniformly applied in all death penalty cases, which has been repeatedly shown to be false in America. I suggest Googling "death penalty lawyer asleep" as a good starting point for this topic.
petenixey 15y ago
Copied verbatim from: https Saeed's Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/Free.Saeed.Malekpour https://www.facebook.com/Free.Saeed.Malekpour ----------------- Saeed Malekpour's sister has written an urgent appeal to the United Nations. She is hoping that the the United Nations may help her save Saeed's life. You can help get Maryam's voice heard faster by emailing her letter to the following UN contacts: Navi Pillay, UN High Commissioner for the Office of Human Rights Email: npillay@ohchr.org Fax: +41-22-917-9008 (Geneva) +1-212-963-4097 (NY) His Excellency Ban Ki-moon, Secretary General of the United Nations Fax: 212-963-7055 (You can send a fax for free online here), Tel: 1-212-963-7160, 61, 62 Additional emails: urgent-action@ohchr.org, inquiries@un.org * To the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights: My name is Maryam Malekpour. I am Saeed Malekpour's sister. I am writing this urgent request to you on behalf of my family. We live in Tehran, Iran. My brother has been living with the threat of death in Evin prison since October 2008. We require your urgent help. When Saeed's lawyers visited the Revolutionary Court two days ago to follow up on his case file, they discovered that the file containing the death sentence ruling was no longer there, and it was not in the possession of the Supreme Court either. Saeed Malekpour’s lawyers were informed that this only meant that the case file was sent to the Circuit Court for Execution of Sentences. One of Saeed’s lawyers said: ”If we [Saeed's lawyers] had a chance to review the case file, then we would have had a chance to prevent the execution of the sentence. By reviewing the case we could have pointed out that an expert has never been brought into the case for investigation. The case file was sent straight to the Circuit Court for Execution of Sentences." He continued: “Since Saeed Malekpour’s sentence is in the possession of the Circuit Court for Execution of Sentences, this means that they are capable of executing Saeed at any moment they wish.” Saeed's case file was sent to the the execution of sentences office even though his lawyer's never reviewed the case file beforehand. Many illegal actions have been taken to condemn Saeed to death, including the fact that no expert has ever reviewed the case. Some other examples of illegal actions taken are: One of Saeed's charges is, "Corrupting the Earth", however no one, not even the lawyers have been able to review the charges in Saeed's case file. They want to execute Saeed but his case file still possesses discrepancies never investigated. The only evidence they have to condemn Saeed to death are hours of false confessions Saeed gave while under physical and psychological torture. I am aware that the United Nations already possesses a detailed record of Saeed's accounts of torture. Saeed was living in Canada with his wife. They are Permanent Residents of that country. He came for a visit to Iran in October 2008 to visit his father, who died from a brain tumour shortly after Saeed's arrest. We cannot believe Saeed was arrested in the first place let alone sentenced to death. We cannot believe that we have been forced to live a horrific nightmare every day for more than three years. Saeed can be illegally executed at any moment unless the international community defends his life. Saeed's lawyers have told our family that the only hope left is the international community. All legal channels within Iran have been exhausted. We are desperate for your help! Please help Saeed. We can provide you with any further information needed. If we all do our part, we can possibly save Saeed from execution. Sincerely, Maryam Malekpour Tehran, Iran
DevX101 15y ago
Does anyone have a copy/link to his code?
arjn 15y ago
I was hoping the threat of execution was one of the usual sabre-rattling, grand-standing moves Iran keeps making to piss off the international community or just to get back at them. Now it seems they're taking it too far. Surely the bosses in Iran can see how stupid this is.
- 9999 15y ago
  Yes, I really don't understand moves like this. With Israel poised to attack Iran's nuclear facilities, and perhaps start an all out air war with them, you would think Iran would want to gain some good will from the international community... I would just write it off as a country run by madmen that are not rational actors, but any number of other madmen have played things better. I wonder what the regime wants for freeing him, maybe they just want too much.
  - InclinedPlane 15y ago
    This is not a rational assessment of Iran's rulers. The Iranian regime doesn't care about international good will. They care about power, and geopolitical advantage. They have been exporting terror to neighboring states for 3 decades through Hezbollah and other organizations. They have been involved in a proxy war with Israel for ages. They have recently been working as fast as possible to acquire home grown nuclear weapons, and the ICBMs to deliver them anywhere. The Iranian regime doesn't care about world sentiment or about the Iranian people. They care about holding on to power and furthering their narrow ideological beliefs.
arjn 15y ago
What does this mean for other open-source developers. For example - Linus Torvalds, GKH etc. Or what about Tim-Berner's Lee ? Will they be executed if they every visit Iran ?
- Tichy 15y ago
  I wouldn't risk it, personally. Although it might make a difference if you are an Iranian citizen or not.
  - tomjen3 15y ago
    Iran wouldn't have touched Tim since he is a UK citizen. That is just begging for the US to go 'special relatioship' on his ass. Linus is a finn, so he is properly also safe. I don't know the last one.
    - pooriaazimi 15y ago
      They were touching those American hikers for a couple years though, weren't they?
      - jrockway 15y ago
        In that case, it was clear that the Americans committed some sort of crime (straying across an international border), and so it was Iran's right to do whatever they wanted (to extract as much political value from the event as possible). Someone visiting the country on a valid visa and facing execution because of their positive contributions to society in their home country is a whole other issue. I'm guessing that Iran, in that case, would have a lot less precedent to stand on, so they might not play the same political games.
billpg 15y ago
Iran's going to execute someone? It must be Thursday.
- billpg 15y ago
  Downvote me more! I love it!
jasonkostempski 15y ago
Imagine what it feels like to know the whole world is aware you're about to be murdered and no one is likely to stop it from happening.
baltcode 15y ago
Does anyone have any facts on the case? What software did he write, where was it released, which website used it, and what evidence was presented for the other charges?
mrleinad 15y ago
How about flooding Twitter with mentions to @chavezcandanga, asking him to ask the Iranian president to do something about this? They're very close, and his twitter account is really active. I just tweeted him this link.
rdl 15y ago
I'm unclear why Canada hasn't granted him citizenship while in Iranian custody, just to escalate matters. Although I don't think Iran recognizes dual nationality for its citizens, so even with Canadian (or US) citizenship, he'd still be an Iranian national to them.
johnbender 15y ago
If anyone came here, like me, wondering what to do to help there's a petition that's linked to on his facebook page: https://www.gopetition.com/petition/40162.html https://www.gopetition.com/petition/40162.html [includes unecrypted assets]
jakejake 15y ago
Does anybody have a link to the software that Saaed created? It sounds like it was just either a library or just generic image sharing software, but none of the stories seem to link to it.

273 points by pooriaazimi 15y ago

Related HN submission: Death sentence for Iranian web programmer – http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3484674 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3484674 (28 days ago)

cobrausn 15y ago

As annoyed as I often get at my country, it is things like this that make me glad to be here and able to voice opinion about all its flaws without fear of something like this. Occasionally I might have some regrets about my time in the service, but not today. I just wish there was something we could do for this guy - I hate knowing what I know about it and also being completely powerless to influence the outcome of this in any way at all.

rhizome 15y ago
Sometimes all a person can do is wish they were born somewhere or sometime else.
peterwwillis 15y ago
You can do something. Our country's foreign relations with Iran may really shaky but that doesn't stop us from being able to officially condemn their behavior, which the international community will hear, and potentially echo. Write your representatives and tell them how you feel and that they should do something about it.
- Jach 15y ago
  All an echoed Official Condemnation will do is make the US more likely to invade Iran. It won't make Iran's behaviors less frequent. So I don't think an Official Condemnation by the country is a good thing, and I don't think it should happen unless we intend to start something; though others think this time will be different and we would be greeted as liberators if we invaded...
  - afterburner 15y ago
    The US won't invade Iran. They might bomb it, but never invade. Too many people, terrain too difficult. 2.5 times more people than Iraq, and 10 times more rugged terrain. Also, they've never been there before, so operationally it's a far more daunting prospect even without considering the already huge challenges. People might think "oh it could just turn into another Iraq." But, really, it can't. Not that pushing back isn't a bad idea. But, really, it can't. If anything happens, it'll be all bombs.
    - InclinedPlane 15y ago
      People said the same thing about Afghanistan, and Iraq too. Just because something is difficult doesn't rule out it happening at some future date. It's even more challenging to try to deal with North Korea militarily, but it would be silly to rule out the possibility entirely. The future of Iran, and of Pakistan too, is crucially important to the future security or insecurity of the entire world. Who can say what future developments may bring?
      - afterburner 15y ago
        About Afghanistan: the CIA had been involved in Afghanistan for decades. They had volumes of information, and allies. Russian involvement made a lot of information available (spies) and set the country up for interventionist scenarios. With Iraq, the entire military had been there 10 years before. Those are not the case in Iran. It's much more of an unknown. And frankly, Afghanistan really is easier to invade, so I'm not sure invading was such a shock as you claim, especially coming a mere 20 years after the Russian invasion. It's a country divided into self-interested warlord factions. Achieving any kind of lasting effect, that's another thing entirely... but sitting around having pot-shots taken at you, no problem. Especially if you can back it up with cash. Sure, who knows what can happen. But it would practically have to be a new world order, slanted towards that possibility. So that's not a good reason for keeping a lid on any talk of Iran being unjust or unfair, just out of fear that such talk now would somehow contribute some fraction of a fraction towards intervention in some unknown, completely removed event in the distant future.
- calibraxis 15y ago
  That unfortunately won't turn out to be the ethical thing to do. Our government overthrew Iran's secular, parliamentary democracy and installed the Shah — and it's still threatening them. (They fail to have a sufficiently obedient tyranny.) This proposal you mention is tantamount to supporting more attacks. Fortunately, there's a lot of room to really help out mideasterners — by getting our government off their backs and stop supporting their regimes. And anyone in an ethical mood need look no further than their own country! The US jails far more of its own people than any other country. On Feb 20, you can participate in a nearby Occupy 4 Prisoners. (http://occupy4prisoners.org/actions/ http://occupy4prisoners.org/actions/)
  - shareme 15y ago
    No, sorry that was GB and Russia that did that during WWI
    - nate_meurer 15y ago
      Operation Ajax. Look it up.
      - tokenadult 15y ago
        An interesting result from Googling "Operation Ajax": https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/csi-studies/studies/vol48no2/article10.html https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intellig...
        nate_meurer 15y ago
        Fascinating, absolutely fascinating, that this is posted on cia.gov. This restores in me a teeny tiny bit of respect for my government. I've read Kinzer's book. I came away much less a fan of Winston Churchill than I was before. He was quite a tyrant when it came to preserving the empire.
  - shareme 15y ago
    No, sorry that was GB and Russia that did that during WWI
rooshdi 15y ago
https://www.facebook.com/Free.Saeed.Malekpor https://www.facebook.com/Free.Saeed.Malekpor Spread the word. We may not have time to save this man's life, but a growing public outcry may help save others like him. Let us not lose faith in the power of people to create change.
- codesuela 15y ago
  typo in url: https://www.facebook.com/Free.Saeed.Malekpour https://www.facebook.com/Free.Saeed.Malekpour
tomjen3 15y ago
You weren't by any chance trained as an assasain or sharp-shooter or special force soldier? because if not, then there isn't much any of us can do. Sadly.
- cobrausn 15y ago
  Considered SEALs at one point, ended up doing nuclear power work instead. Probably for the best - I wasn't very level headed in my younger days, and I'm not sure going into a gung-ho profession such as the SEALs would have helped matters. Technical work followed by college, on the other hand, did, and it's also what got me into programming. Having said that, there are still days when I sometimes wish I'd taken on the challenge. Nonetheless, I don't think a special-forces op to rescue a Canadian resident is actually in the works. If diplomatic approaches fail, this guy is going to die for writing software and video games that are critical of Iranian government. I feel equally guilty because my country (and others) overthrew their democratic government in 1953, meaning the current batch of goons is partially our fault. It actually makes me physically sad. EDIT: Corrected the incorrect date for the Mordad coup.
  - bostonpete 15y ago
    > I feel equally guilty because my country (and others) overthrew their democratic government in the 70s I think that was 1953.
  - tomjen3 15y ago
    Oh I am sure that there is no rescue in the works. That is kind why I wanted to convince you to go do it.
smokeyj 15y ago
If this happened in the U.S, you would have never heard of it.
- cobrausn 15y ago
  Do you have any evidence of anyone in the US being convicted and put to death for writing software without anyone knowing about it, or is this just some additional snarky rhetoric being tossed about that mirrors your dim view of the US? Seriously, if the first, I would like to know. Unlike in Iran, I might be able to affect the outcome here.
  - smokeyj 15y ago
    I only said if it did happen here, you wouldn't know about it. I don't mean to offend your sense of patriotism. I still feel this statement is factual given the fact you're asking me for instances. Can I prove someone was secretly detained for voicing their opinion? No. It's a secret. This is like asking someone to prove they don't have something. What I do know is, due process has been suspended in the U.S via ndaa, the patriot act, and soon to be enemy expatriation act. I do know americans have been detained in gitmo for owning a casio watch. I have nothing against the U.S. I live here and enjoy the privileges the constitution affords me. But I feel it is important to be critical of our own government rather than saying 'hey, at least we're not IRAN'. That isn't a very high standard at all.
    - Karunamon 15y ago
      >I do know americans have been detained in gitmo for owning a casio watch. Really now? You'll have to pardon me for being skeptical of this. Americans have been detained in gitmo, absent any other evidence, for owning a particular model of watch? Citation badly needed. I'm afraid you are very foggy on the definition of "factual". Something isn't "factual" if there's no evidence to support it.
      - smokeyj 15y ago
        http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Guantanamo_Bay_detainees_accused_of_possessing_Casio_watches http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Guantanamo_Bay_detainee...

JS_startup 15y ago

Wow, I'm actually stunned. The general consensus seemed to be that Iran would pardon him at the last minute and just have him exiled. Maybe that will still be the case?

lowglow 15y ago

I don't have words for how much this upsets me.

mgallivan 15y ago

Can someone explain the il/legality behind this? Articles say that the man is "a Canadian resident" - does this not affect where he can be tried?

jauer 15y ago
No. Basically crimes are tried in the jurisdiction where they are (allegedly) committed. If a jurisdiction feels someone committed a crime in their turf and the person never was or no longer is in the jurisdiction they make a ruling without the accused present ie In absentina.
BenjaminCoe 15y ago
I have a friend in Canada (also a web developer) who is from Iran. This underscores for me, their fears regarding visiting their home country. I'm pretty sure if you get arrested, even while visiting with permanent residence in a country such as Canada, you're pretty much screwed.
- mgallivan 15y ago
  That's terrible - I wonder what the response would be if the man held dual-citizenship...
  - mhurron 15y ago
    If he held citizenship in any country in addition to or other than Iran, that country would have diplomatic channels to go through to deal with this. Specifically to this case, you would like to think Canada would do more then write a letter to the government of Iran if he had Canadian citizenship, but I do really doubt they would do more than 'tense negotiations.'
  - mahyarm 15y ago
    I don't think it would be much different from him being born in Canada, being called John Doe and having completely swedish ancestry and one Canadian passport.
15y ago

pooriaazimi 15y ago

Just two days ago, his sister Maryam Malekpour told[1] the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran: “[Saeed] has been pressured [by security forces] to make confessions before a television camera, which he has fortunately not accepted”. He didn't accept that, so now they're having him executed. [1] http://www.iranhumanrights.org/2012/02/malekpour-sister/ http://www.iranhumanrights.org/2012/02/malekpour-sister/

zaroth 15y ago
How do you know that they wouldn't have used the coerced confession to try to justify the execution?

faramarz 15y ago

Wow! That could have been me! During the 2008 post-election protests and the beginning of the green movement, I aggregated all the images coming out of Iran into my personal flickr account. BIG-STUPID-MISTAKE! These were brutal, news breaking images . Little did I know people and news organizations around the world were including these images in their articles, blogs, tweets etc and attributing me, and sometimes printing my full name as the original photographer. If you do a google search of my full name, you still come up with results like that (luckily not in the first page). I've tried unsuccessfully to get them removed. Seeing what is happening to Malekpour, I don't think it's safe to go back. Not anytime soon

ocdprogrammer 15y ago
I'm sorry, but you, him and even I, we are all guilty (there are high chances I watched some porn uploaded using his software). The only thing we can do is to stay out of Iran. If you don't stay out, it's like asking for punishment. And btw, i will never put a foot in USA also, cause who on earth knows what NSA may have on me.
PedroCandeias 15y ago
And there are still people arguing that we should no longer go by anything other than our real names online (facebook I'm looking at you).
- blake8086 15y ago
  I think Facebook is arguing that you should no longer go by anything other than your real name on Facebook.
  - noarchy 15y ago
    The problem being, of course, that other sites are using FB for logins. Granted, this is a problem only if you consent to it.
  - rhizome 15y ago
    That's underselling, though.

jellicle 15y ago

Malekpour created porn websites. In particular, he created Persian porn websites - porn websites targeted at people who read Persian. Porn websites are against the law in Iran. He's an Iranian citizen. He traveled to Iran. I strongly disapprove of censorship, particularly censorship of the "death" kind. But he should perhaps have been a little bit more discerning about his travel plans. This anti-porn thing is not new or unexpected. What did he think would happen?

skymt 15y ago
The story I saw claimed that Malekpour developed open-source file-upload software that was later used by porn sites without his knowledge. Do you have a source for your claim that he was directly involved with the porn sites themselves? http://thenextweb.com/me/2012/01/19/death-sentence-for-iranian-programmer-accused-of-developing-software-used-by-porn-sites/ http://thenextweb.com/me/2012/01/19/death-sentence-for-irani...
nathanwdavis 15y ago
He was visiting his terminally-ill father.
cullenking 15y ago
From my understanding, he didn't create porn sites, he created a piece of open source software that porn sites have used. The last claims I read said they were forcing confessions from him via torture.
pooriaazimi 15y ago
From Wikipedia[1]: In October 2008, Malekpour visited his dying father in Iran. And he didn't create porn websites; he created photo-uploading softwares that were (later, and he says without his knowledge) used in porn sites. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saeed_Malekpour http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saeed_Malekpour
shin_lao 15y ago
So you're saying it's his fault if he's going to get executed? Next time you break the law and you get fined for it, I truly hope you will not complain because I'll teleport right next to you and say "what did you think would happen?". And we'll have a good laugh about it, because you will not die.

paulhauggis 15y ago

Another example of why Iran is an evil dictatorship.

jrockway 15y ago
Democracies have the death penalty, too. This is another example of why the death penalty is never an acceptable punishment for a crime; this guy hasn't even had a chance to appeal properly, and they're already planning to execute him. That's not justice, that's barbaric.
- pooriaazimi 15y ago
  > This is another example of why the death penalty is never an acceptable punishment for a crime I disagree. Bashar al-Asad has killed 8300 Syrian in the past 11 months, and now the country is on the verge of civil war. Some crimes deserve death penalty (though, obviously writing an open-source app does not qualify!).
  - jrockway 15y ago
    The fact that the death penalty seems reasonable in one case doesn't make it reasonable. The death penalty is inappropriate because it doesn't have any checks and balances; if you are executed and later found not guilty, you can't be brought back to life. It's clear that fear of punishment does not deter crimes; otherwise death penalty states would have no murders.
- koningrobot 15y ago
  How is this the lack of due process an argument against the death penalty? It doesn't follow.
  - hyperbovine 15y ago
    You assume due process is uniformly applied in all death penalty cases, which has been repeatedly shown to be false in America. I suggest Googling "death penalty lawyer asleep" as a good starting point for this topic.

petenixey 15y ago

Copied verbatim from: https Saeed's Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/Free.Saeed.Malekpour https://www.facebook.com/Free.Saeed.Malekpour ----------------- Saeed Malekpour's sister has written an urgent appeal to the United Nations. She is hoping that the the United Nations may help her save Saeed's life. You can help get Maryam's voice heard faster by emailing her letter to the following UN contacts: Navi Pillay, UN High Commissioner for the Office of Human Rights Email: npillay@ohchr.org Fax: +41-22-917-9008 (Geneva) +1-212-963-4097 (NY) His Excellency Ban Ki-moon, Secretary General of the United Nations Fax: 212-963-7055 (You can send a fax for free online here), Tel: 1-212-963-7160, 61, 62 Additional emails: urgent-action@ohchr.org, inquiries@un.org * To the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights: My name is Maryam Malekpour. I am Saeed Malekpour's sister. I am writing this urgent request to you on behalf of my family. We live in Tehran, Iran. My brother has been living with the threat of death in Evin prison since October 2008. We require your urgent help. When Saeed's lawyers visited the Revolutionary Court two days ago to follow up on his case file, they discovered that the file containing the death sentence ruling was no longer there, and it was not in the possession of the Supreme Court either. Saeed Malekpour’s lawyers were informed that this only meant that the case file was sent to the Circuit Court for Execution of Sentences. One of Saeed’s lawyers said: ”If we [Saeed's lawyers] had a chance to review the case file, then we would have had a chance to prevent the execution of the sentence. By reviewing the case we could have pointed out that an expert has never been brought into the case for investigation. The case file was sent straight to the Circuit Court for Execution of Sentences." He continued: “Since Saeed Malekpour’s sentence is in the possession of the Circuit Court for Execution of Sentences, this means that they are capable of executing Saeed at any moment they wish.” Saeed's case file was sent to the the execution of sentences office even though his lawyer's never reviewed the case file beforehand. Many illegal actions have been taken to condemn Saeed to death, including the fact that no expert has ever reviewed the case. Some other examples of illegal actions taken are: One of Saeed's charges is, "Corrupting the Earth", however no one, not even the lawyers have been able to review the charges in Saeed's case file. They want to execute Saeed but his case file still possesses discrepancies never investigated. The only evidence they have to condemn Saeed to death are hours of false confessions Saeed gave while under physical and psychological torture. I am aware that the United Nations already possesses a detailed record of Saeed's accounts of torture. Saeed was living in Canada with his wife. They are Permanent Residents of that country. He came for a visit to Iran in October 2008 to visit his father, who died from a brain tumour shortly after Saeed's arrest. We cannot believe Saeed was arrested in the first place let alone sentenced to death. We cannot believe that we have been forced to live a horrific nightmare every day for more than three years. Saeed can be illegally executed at any moment unless the international community defends his life. Saeed's lawyers have told our family that the only hope left is the international community. All legal channels within Iran have been exhausted. We are desperate for your help! Please help Saeed. We can provide you with any further information needed. If we all do our part, we can possibly save Saeed from execution. Sincerely, Maryam Malekpour Tehran, Iran

DevX101 15y ago

Does anyone have a copy/link to his code?

arjn 15y ago

I was hoping the threat of execution was one of the usual sabre-rattling, grand-standing moves Iran keeps making to piss off the international community or just to get back at them. Now it seems they're taking it too far. Surely the bosses in Iran can see how stupid this is.

9999 15y ago
Yes, I really don't understand moves like this. With Israel poised to attack Iran's nuclear facilities, and perhaps start an all out air war with them, you would think Iran would want to gain some good will from the international community... I would just write it off as a country run by madmen that are not rational actors, but any number of other madmen have played things better. I wonder what the regime wants for freeing him, maybe they just want too much.
- InclinedPlane 15y ago
  This is not a rational assessment of Iran's rulers. The Iranian regime doesn't care about international good will. They care about power, and geopolitical advantage. They have been exporting terror to neighboring states for 3 decades through Hezbollah and other organizations. They have been involved in a proxy war with Israel for ages. They have recently been working as fast as possible to acquire home grown nuclear weapons, and the ICBMs to deliver them anywhere. The Iranian regime doesn't care about world sentiment or about the Iranian people. They care about holding on to power and furthering their narrow ideological beliefs.

arjn 15y ago

What does this mean for other open-source developers. For example - Linus Torvalds, GKH etc. Or what about Tim-Berner's Lee ? Will they be executed if they every visit Iran ?

Tichy 15y ago
I wouldn't risk it, personally. Although it might make a difference if you are an Iranian citizen or not.
- tomjen3 15y ago
  Iran wouldn't have touched Tim since he is a UK citizen. That is just begging for the US to go 'special relatioship' on his ass. Linus is a finn, so he is properly also safe. I don't know the last one.
  - pooriaazimi 15y ago
    They were touching those American hikers for a couple years though, weren't they?
    - jrockway 15y ago
      In that case, it was clear that the Americans committed some sort of crime (straying across an international border), and so it was Iran's right to do whatever they wanted (to extract as much political value from the event as possible). Someone visiting the country on a valid visa and facing execution because of their positive contributions to society in their home country is a whole other issue. I'm guessing that Iran, in that case, would have a lot less precedent to stand on, so they might not play the same political games.

billpg 15y ago

Iran's going to execute someone? It must be Thursday.

billpg 15y ago
Downvote me more! I love it!

jasonkostempski 15y ago

Imagine what it feels like to know the whole world is aware you're about to be murdered and no one is likely to stop it from happening.

baltcode 15y ago

Does anyone have any facts on the case? What software did he write, where was it released, which website used it, and what evidence was presented for the other charges?

mrleinad 15y ago

How about flooding Twitter with mentions to @chavezcandanga, asking him to ask the Iranian president to do something about this? They're very close, and his twitter account is really active. I just tweeted him this link.

rdl 15y ago

I'm unclear why Canada hasn't granted him citizenship while in Iranian custody, just to escalate matters. Although I don't think Iran recognizes dual nationality for its citizens, so even with Canadian (or US) citizenship, he'd still be an Iranian national to them.

johnbender 15y ago

If anyone came here, like me, wondering what to do to help there's a petition that's linked to on his facebook page: https://www.gopetition.com/petition/40162.html https://www.gopetition.com/petition/40162.html [includes unecrypted assets]

jakejake 15y ago

Does anybody have a link to the software that Saaed created? It sounds like it was just either a library or just generic image sharing software, but none of the stories seem to link to it.