He is not a political man, but Saeed Malekpour is a political prisoner. The Canadian resident has been in Iranian captivity since October, 2008, a visit to his ailing father having turned into a Kafkaesque ordeal which could end in Mr. Malekpour’s execution. He will need the vocal support of the Canadian government and Canadians to survive.
Mr. Malekpour’s supposed crime was to have set up an adult website. The death penalty, which according to Amnesty International was carried out at least 388 times in Iran last year, applies to all kinds of crimes: Mr. Malekpour was eventually found guilty of being “corrupt on earth,” defined by a senior judge in the Ayatollah Khomeini regime as being “something that causes degeneration and destruction and deviation of the society from its natural course.”
The only thing that has been unnatural has been the treatment of Mr. Malekpour. He spent almost a year in a six by six cell. His confession was coerced, after he had been tortured, and was played on television. Now, the authorities say Mr. Malekpour made adult videos too, which somehow will help overthrow the Iranian government. He has met his lawyer only once, in court. IT technicians were not allowed to investigate the charges, despite an order to do so by another magistrate. A sentence of death could be imminent.
Fatima Eftekhari, Mr. Malekpour’s wife, is rallying to save him. That he was a web designer by profession and not an activist makes him “a perfect person to play the role,” in Iran’s anti-Western campaign, says Ms. Eftekhari, a Richmond Hill, Ont. resident. He can be arrested for a capital crime, and only his family will speak for him.
Mr. Malekpour is not a Canadian citizen, but that does not absolve Canada of responsibility to speak for him. A Department of Foreign Affairs spokesman said “Canada remains deeply concerned by the continued flagrant disregard of the Iranian authorities for the rights of both Iranian and dual-national citizens.”
But Canada should say more. Lawrence Cannon, the Foreign Minister, needs to raise the case with those contacts Canada has with the Iranian regime.
Iran threatens vulnerable individuals to play to its revolutionary base – consider the possible pending execution of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, the ongoing detention of two American hikers, and a recent prison sentence for Iranian-Canadian blogger Hossein Derakhshan. Canada and Canadians should express their revulsion. The death penalty is wrong; executing someone for supposedly operating an adult website is twisted, and morally indefensible.
