4 ms·

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.
pooriaazimi 15y ago
He's a Canadian resident, not a citizen. Unfortunately that makes all the difference in the world: “Canada condemns Iran’s reported decision to execute Mr. Malekpour. Sadly, his case is far from the only example of Iran’s utter disregard for human life. The regime in Tehran frequently ignores principles like due process for its citizens domestically, and international human rights obligations generally.” Canadian governments condemns his execution, but nothing more.
- Jun8 15y ago
  Even if he were a citizen, perhaps they may not have done much with regimes like Iran, e.g. see the case of two Swedish photographers sentenced to 11 years in Ethiopia (http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/12/27/uk-ethiopia-sweden-journalists-idUKTRE7BQ08P20111227 http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/12/27/uk-ethiopia-sweden-...)
- raganwald 15y ago
  And rightly (although sadly) so. Consider the reverse: A Canadian citizen takes up residence in a third-world country, where he has sex with minors. He returns to Canada, where he is arrested under Canadian law for engaging in sex tourism. The other country may want to prosecute him, they may not, they may want to protest, they may not. But the Canadian government is not bound by any treaty or agreement to send him back to the other country.
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  - powertower 15y ago
    I'm not sure why you're equating that with the "crime" that this person is accused of... Create some general upload program that was used without his knowledge by possibly a porn site operator. If you want to use an analogy, use one that has an equal weight on both sides.
nkassis 15y ago
He's a Canadian resident but not a citizen, it limits what Canada can do for him as far as I understand he is a Iranian citizen and thus they can pretty much do what they want with him. This case really angers me and it makes me feel quite powerless. As I Canadian I hope my government is still providing as much aid as they can to help him.
chc 15y ago
Not really. I mean, if he'd remained in Canada, this wouldn't be happening, but once he returned to Iran he was pretty solidly under Iranian law in all its brutality.
- mgallivan 15y ago
  That seems strange to me, though. Isn't Iran bound by the UN Covenant on Civil and Political Rights?
  - chc 15y ago
    What part of the treaty are you thinking of? I'm not aware of anything that would bar Iran from applying its laws to its citizens just because they've been living abroad for a while, though I am admittedly not the most well-versed in international law.
herge 15y ago
He was in Iran when he was arrested. The Canadian government has tried to get him released, but their influence is limited in Iran. He may not have committed the crime while in Iran, but the Iranian justice system (what an oxymoron!) may have a different opinion on jurisdiction for online crimes. Maybe it took a page out of U.S. Law.

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.

pooriaazimi 15y ago

He's a Canadian resident, not a citizen. Unfortunately that makes all the difference in the world: “Canada condemns Iran’s reported decision to execute Mr. Malekpour. Sadly, his case is far from the only example of Iran’s utter disregard for human life. The regime in Tehran frequently ignores principles like due process for its citizens domestically, and international human rights obligations generally.” Canadian governments condemns his execution, but nothing more.

Jun8 15y ago
Even if he were a citizen, perhaps they may not have done much with regimes like Iran, e.g. see the case of two Swedish photographers sentenced to 11 years in Ethiopia (http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/12/27/uk-ethiopia-sweden-journalists-idUKTRE7BQ08P20111227 http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/12/27/uk-ethiopia-sweden-...)
raganwald 15y ago
And rightly (although sadly) so. Consider the reverse: A Canadian citizen takes up residence in a third-world country, where he has sex with minors. He returns to Canada, where he is arrested under Canadian law for engaging in sex tourism. The other country may want to prosecute him, they may not, they may want to protest, they may not. But the Canadian government is not bound by any treaty or agreement to send him back to the other country.
- deleted 15y ago
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- deleted 15y ago
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- powertower 15y ago
  I'm not sure why you're equating that with the "crime" that this person is accused of... Create some general upload program that was used without his knowledge by possibly a porn site operator. If you want to use an analogy, use one that has an equal weight on both sides.

nkassis 15y ago

He's a Canadian resident but not a citizen, it limits what Canada can do for him as far as I understand he is a Iranian citizen and thus they can pretty much do what they want with him. This case really angers me and it makes me feel quite powerless. As I Canadian I hope my government is still providing as much aid as they can to help him.

chc 15y ago

Not really. I mean, if he'd remained in Canada, this wouldn't be happening, but once he returned to Iran he was pretty solidly under Iranian law in all its brutality.

mgallivan 15y ago
That seems strange to me, though. Isn't Iran bound by the UN Covenant on Civil and Political Rights?
- chc 15y ago
  What part of the treaty are you thinking of? I'm not aware of anything that would bar Iran from applying its laws to its citizens just because they've been living abroad for a while, though I am admittedly not the most well-versed in international law.

herge 15y ago

He was in Iran when he was arrested. The Canadian government has tried to get him released, but their influence is limited in Iran. He may not have committed the crime while in Iran, but the Iranian justice system (what an oxymoron!) may have a different opinion on jurisdiction for online crimes. Maybe it took a page out of U.S. Law.