Such is the case of saeed malekpour, an iranianborn engineer and canadian resident, who is currently facing a death sentence in iran, accused of creating a pornographic network. Hundreds condemn sentence for iranian on death row february 11, 2011 17. This site is where i think out loud about my work and try to bring value to others. Saeed malekpours wife, fatima eftekhari, discussing the current situation. In 2004 saeed left iran and moved to canada to continue his studies and build a new life for himself in canada. Rally to support canadian resident saeed malekpour.
Iran increasingly controls its internet the washington post. Iran has sentenced saeed malekpour, a 35yearold web programmer to death for charges of developing and promoting porn websites, according to the guardian saeed malekpour a permanent canadian resident was arrested in october 2008 after his arrival to. If he had been able to see the online wave of wellwishers, i am sure he would have been pleased. He was sentenced to death in iran for allegedly designing and moderating pornographic websites.
According to malekpour s family, he is a permanent resident of canada and is a programmer who wrote photouploading software that was used by a porn website without his knowledge. In 2008, during a visit to iran, malekpour was arrested and detained by iranian authorities on charges that he designed and moderated adult content websites. Malekpour is also a computer software designer, and his charges are linked to his expertise in that area. Saeed malekpour was picked up by plainclothes officers in october 2008 and taken to evin prison in tehran, where he spent a year in solitary confinement without access to lawyers and without charge. If you are a web developer or any type of developer for that matter you probably have done the same thing. You can free saeed malekpour, web developer and political prisoner. Iranian court sentences programmer to death techfruit. Saeed malekpour wrote a computer program to upload photos to the internet iranian authorities claim someone else used the program to upload pornography rights groups call for the programmers release. A smart programmer and a loyal son, he was imprisoned in 2008 after arriving in iran from canada where he studied coding and worked as a freelancer. Solutions expertise in business and systems analysis, design, project life cycle methodology expertise in systems integration,implementation and deployment. Tell justin trudeau to fight for web developer saeed malekpour. He worked as a free lance web developer and lived in victoria, british columbia. Open source software oss has been around for several decades now, and it serves as the foundation for many gadgets and online services that consumers use regularly.
Saeed malekpour, a web developer, is being held captive in tehrans evin prison for seven years now. Help end the imprisonment of iranian web developer saeed. Malekpour family allowed visit after three months center. Feb 18, 2012 malekpour and his family denied he had any knowledge of such a network, and said he had only created imagesharing software that could have been used to upload such images without his knowledge. View saeed khans profile on linkedin, the worlds largest professional community. The 35yearold metallurgy graduate of sharif university, one of irans top universities, has been in prison since september of 2008. See the complete profile on linkedin and discover ahmeds connections and jobs at similar companies. He apparently created software that can be used to upload photos to a. Iranian programmer saeed malekpour will be celebrating his 40th birthday friday from behind bars, where hes completing his seventh year in prison for creating an open source software program that others used to upload pornographic images to the internet his story is an example of the fear iranian authorities use to control the nations internet space. But saeed doesnt have access to basic rights, much less twitter. This is the story of a man named saeed malekpour, a man from iran who lived in canada until recently. During that period, he wrote a piece of software used by some companies to upload videos. Who would have thought you could be sentenced to death for it. See the complete profile on linkedin and discover saeeds connections and jobs at similar companies.
If you are a web developer, or any kind of code wrangler, please take a. The iranian supreme court has upheld the lower revolutionary courts decision to sentence saeed malekpour, the 35 year old developer of some photouploading software, to death due to that software being used by porn and other immoral websites and services. View ahmed saeeds profile on linkedin, the worlds largest professional community. Saeed malekpour, a permanent resident of canada, is facing imminent execution in iran. Saeed malekpour, the opensource software developer, is back home in canada after facing ten years of imprisonment in iran. The story of saeed malekpour, is more or less the story of all the unknown political detainees and prisoners in iran. This site is where he thinks out loud about his work and tries to bring value to others. Malekpour had designed photo uploading software, and according to his supporters, that software was being used. At the time of his arrest, malekpour was a canadian resident. Jun 05, 2016 saeed malekpour is an iranian web designer and software engineer. Software developer imprisoned in iran after developing opensource. He studied at sharif university of technology in tehran where he got a degree in metallurgical engineering. As of october 4, 2014, iranian web and circumvention tool developer saeed malekpour has spent six years in prison for creating an open source software program that others used to upload pornographic images to the internet.
Tell justin trudeau to fight for web developer saeed. Ahmer saeed software engineer netsol technologies inc. Sep 12, 2016 saeed malekpour crossed the border from iran to turkey at night, terrified of capture. In 2005 saeed malekpour became a permanent resident in canada.
Saeed malekpour a permanent canadian resident was arrested in october 2008 after his arrival to tehran and convicted of designing porn websites. Propaganda against the regime by designing pornographic sites. His sister, maryam malekpour, said the supreme court had confirmed the death sentence despite many discrepancies in the case. Now, eight years on, the enduring nightmare seems unthinkable. In october 2008, saeed malekpours father got very ill. Saeed malekpour escaped iran while on furlough from prison and has. More global voices coverage of saeed malekpour writing code is not a crime. Once in a while, however, we get harsh reminders of the kind of real problems that can face a software developer in lessfriendly circumstances. Jan 24, 2012 last week, the iranian supreme court confirmed the death sentence for computer programmer saeed malekpour, whose photography program was used without his knowledge, to upload pornography to the. The family of saeed malekpour, an iraniancanadian who was sentenced to death in january 2012, was finally allowed to see him after three months of not being able to visit him. Saeed was living in canada as a permanent resident before he embarked on what was supposed to be a short trip to iran in october 2008. Malekpour, a 35yearold engineer and website developer, admitted to writing the program but said he wasnt aware of how it was being used.
Aug 04, 2019 saeed malekpour, the opensource software developer, is back home in canada after facing ten years of imprisonment in iran. Dec 06, 2010 malekpour, a 35yearold engineer and website developer, admitted to writing the program but said he wasnt aware of how it was being used. Tell justin trudeau to fight for web developer saeed malekpour 95 points by iamjeff on sept, 2016 hide. An anonymous reader points out the case of saeed malekpour, an iranianborn permanent resident of canada who worked as a web developer. He wrote open source code for web image uploads that was later used without his knowledge by an iranian pornography site. In 2008 saeed malekpour, a permanent resident of canada, was preparing to join a masters program at the university of victoria in british columbia. Jan 23, 2012 the iranian supreme court has upheld the lower revolutionary courts decision to sentence saeed malekpour, the 35 year old developer of some photouploading software, to death due to that software being used by porn and other immoral websites and services. Saeed malekpour escaped iran while on furlough from prison and has returned safely to canada. Malekpour developed an internet photosharing tool that his supporters assert was used without his knowledge for pornographic purposes.
Saeed malekpour crossed the border from iran to turkey at night, terrified of capture. Saeed malekpour is a canadian developer who was seized from the streets of tehran by irans revolutionary guard in 2008. A grim year for imprisoned technologists mybroadband. Previous canadian administrations, and the canadian parliament, have included saeed s case when criticizing and negotiating with iran it was that stance that in part led to saeed s previous two. Saeed malekpour has spent nearly a decade in prison for giving his software away for free. Execution of web programmer in iran may be imminent cnn. Malekpour was told his name had been found on software being used on. Malekpour was a canadian web developer who had spent over a decade barely surviving in iranian jail.
On 4 october 2008 saeed malekpour was arrested near vanak square in northern tehran by agents in. And once made, saeed malekpour knew there would be no turning back. Sep 14, 2019 it was a life and death decision that was made in a split second. Iranian programmer saeed malekpour will be celebrating his 40th birthday. Canada concern at iran death penalty for web designer. When saeed malekpour was arrested and jailed in 2008 over his code, it seemed like a nightmare of unjust proportions. Malekpour, a 35yearold engineering graduate of irans sanati sharif university and a software developer, arrived in iran in 2008 from canada, where he was residing, and was arrested by iranian authorities. A group of canadian activists hopes to put pressure on the iranian government to commute the death sentence of a canadian resident, who is being held in irans notorious evin prison, by staging a. It was a life and death decision that was made in a split second. In court the authorities did not present any evidence to prove the outlandish charges against him, except for forced confessions which were extracted from him under torture. The story of saeed malekpour, is more or less the story of all the unknown political detainees and prisoners in iran who were normal people living everyday lives. Jailed iranian web developer saeed malekpour turns 40. Iran confirms death sentence for porn site web programmer.
View saeed rajayis profile on linkedin, the worlds largest professional community. Feb 18, 2012 saeed malekpour wrote a computer program to upload photos to the internet iranian authorities claim someone else used the program to upload pornography rights groups call for the programmers release. Last week, the iranian supreme court confirmed the death sentence for computer programmer saeed malekpour, whose photography program was used without his knowledge, to upload pornography to the. His sister, maryam malekpour, told the international campaign for human rights in iran that saeeds interrogators have prevented him from seeing his family. Amnesty international called for iran to stop plans to execute web developer saeed malekpour, after the programmers sister said the country had upheld his.
Campaign for release of saeed malekpour people without. Malekpour and his family denied he had any knowledge of such a network, and said he had only created imagesharing software that could have been used to. Saeed malekpour is an iranian web designer and software engineer. Software developer imprisoned in iran after developing opensource software is now free. By paul dewar national post last june, people around the world wished canadian permanent resident saeed malekpour a happy birthday. Saeed malekpour was convicted in iran of designing and moderating adult sites, according to a campaign run by the 35yearolds supporters. An iranian canadian web developer, saeed malekpour, 36, is awaiting execution after he was sentenced to death for what the judge said was spreading pornographic material. Iran has sentenced saeed malekpour, a 35yearold web programmer to death for charges of developing and promoting porn websites, according to the guardian. Campaign for release of saeed malekpour people without nation. A return to canadas previous position would undoubtedly help saeed now. What they have in common is not just a love of technology, but a.
Saeed dadkhah software developer team lead at mahsan iran information technology and services 2 people have recommended saeed. Rally to support canadian resident saeed malekpour, sentenced. Software developer imprisoned in iran after developing. Saeed malekpour campaign for release of saeed malekpour. Malekpours death sentence challenged by irans academic. Oct 03, 2016 when saeed malekpour was arrested and jailed in 2008 over his code, it seemed like a nightmare of unjust proportions.
The story of saeed malekpour broke hearts of many sympathizers from all over the world. That is the horrific story of saeed malekpour, a canadian resident and programmer who was seized by irans revolutionary guard in 2008. Courtesy of malekpour family saeed malekpour, a permanent. He was fleeing from the country that had held him prisoner for a decade, escaping with just a backpack into one of the most chaotic regions of the world. As of october 4, 2014, iranian web and circumvention tool developer saeed malekpour has spent six years in. Saeed malekpour, a canadian sentenced to death in iran for corrupting the earth and desecrating islam. Software developer imprisoned in iran after developing open. Aug 03, 2019 the story of saeed malekpour broke hearts of many sympathizers from all over the world. You can read maryam malekpours plea to the canadian government to help pressure for her brothers release here. It is not justice to keep a talented software engineer in jail just. Iran s supreme court has upheld the death sentence for a web programmer who faces imminent execution after being found guilty of developing and promoting porn websites. Jun 04, 2015 iranian programmer saeed malekpour will be celebrating his 40th birthday friday from behind bars, where hes completing his seventh year in prison for creating an open source software program that others used to upload pornographic images to the internet.
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