Saeed's Story [UPDATE: Saeed is free and on Canadian soil: https://twitter.com/justice4iran/status/1157656790697414656?s=21]
Saeed Malekpour has been in an Iranian jail for the past six years, his 'crime'? He put his name in some open source code that was later used by a website the iranian regime didn't like. Saeed was living in Canada when he took a trip to Iran to visit his dying father. While on this visit he was kidnapped off the streets of Tehran by Iranian forces on October 4, 2008, he was severely tortured both physically and psychologically.
After his jaw was broken and he was threatened with rape he complied with the forces and gave more than 30 hours of televised confessions. These false confessions are the only piece of 'evidence' the Iranian authorities have against him. Using the false confessions, the Iranian Judiciary sentenced him to death twice. His official charges are outlandish, a translation of them are as follows:
• Acting against national security through propaganda against the Islamic Republic regime by means of publishing various works realized through collaboration with anti-Islamic Republic regime groups which was achieved through launching numerous websites with derogatory contents and through ties with foreign agents
• Insulting and desecrating the principles of Islam, the prophets, and [Shiite] Imams, the city of Mecca, etc. through publication of photos, stories and religious materials.
• Insulting the founder of the Islamic Republic (Ayatollah Khomeini), and the Supreme Leader (Ayatollah Khamenei) and the president through publication of photos, stories and religious materials.
• Illegitimate and illicit earning through direction and management of various websites
• Production, supply, and publication of obscene materials such as photos, films, stories through computer systems and e-mails.
• Organized launch and direction of obscene [pornographic] website with the intent to destabilize and collapse the cultural and social security of families, and encourage moral decadence and corruption in the society
After significant pressure to free Saeed, the Supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei, recently called off Saeed’s death sentence and converted it to life in prison. Saeed may spend the rest of his life in Evin Prison.
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