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Loading...Man Has Death Penalty Sentence For Porn Quashed In Iran
An Iranian man has had his death sentence for operating a pornography website quashed, reports say.
Saeed Malekpour had been living in Canada and was in the process of applying for citizenship when he returned to his native Iran in 2008 to visit his ill father. When he arrived, he was placed under arrest for designing and moderating adult websites, which is illegal in Iran. He was also charged with taking action against national security, agitating against the regime, contact with foreign entities and insulting the sanctity of Islam.
Malekpour has been a Canadian resident since 2004. Both Malekpour’s lawyers and supporters say that he is innocent of all charges, and that the porn site used the upload code for a photo site he had written without his knowledge. After his arrest, Malekpour was kept in solitary confinement for almost a year without access to legal representation. Malekpour’s lawyers also say that he was brutally tortured to extract a videotaped confession, which officials then broadcast on state television. Malekpour wrote a letter to his supporters about the confession which was published on the website they maintain for his cause. From the Guardian Online:
“A large portion of my confession was extracted under pressure, physical and psychological torture, threats to myself and my family, and false promises of immediate release upon giving a false confession to whatever the interrogators dictated.”
“While I remained blindfolded and handcuffed, several individuals armed with cables, batons, and their fists struck and punched me. At times, they would flog my head and neck. Such mistreatment was aimed at forcing me to write what the interrogators were dictating, and to compel me to play a role in front of the camera based on their scenarios.”
While the Iranian Supreme Court has quashed his death penalty sentence, Malekpour remains in custody, his future uncertain.
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Read more: beating, confessions, death penalty, execution, human rights, iran, solitary confinement, torture
Photo credit: CxOxS on Flickr
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31 comments
+ add your ownPoor guy. I hope he's ok. He shouldn't undergo the death penalty, even if he was operating a porn site.
thanks for this article
Poor tortured person.
Now maybe if it were allowed to punish this harshly those who create and promote kiddie porn in THIS country...
Pornographic website or producing video etc leads to what crime like rape and other evil things do you encourage same in your country certainly not you consider it also bad so if IRAN which has become a whipping horse of the west any thing the do good is taken negative
Iran is notorious as one of the worst countries for constant human rights violations.
thanks for the article.
Sad story.
I do agree it sounds very much like Gitmo job, perhaps the Iranians have not heard of water boarding yet. This is such a humane practice the worlds policeman USA practices it too.
Human lives are cheap and torture is a common place throughout the world. Some practice it and call it torture others give it another name and pretend no one else will know what they do.
Otherwise send the undesired people to an other country when they can be tortured on their behalf and they remain whiter than the white.
Interesting article. Thanks for sharing. If you have a moment please sign my petition to help 13 year old Jordan Brown. He needs your help http://www.thepetitionsite.com/379/justice-for-13-yr-old-jordan-brown/
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