Malekpour’s Sister Fears Execution Imminent

Expressing grave concern about her brother’s conditions, Maryam Malekpour told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran that her family has had no news about her brother Saeed Malekpour, whose death sentence was forwarded to the Iranian Judiciary’s Sentence Enforcement Unit in February 2012.

“Now we are concerned that the sentence may be carried out at any moment, and concerned for my brother’s present conditions as we have been unable to see him for 50 days,” she told the Campaign.

“His death sentence may be carried out at any given moment. I ask the judicial authorities of my country to stop this sentence. We have written a lot of letters, all of which have gone unanswered. But we are still hopeful that the authorities can stop the sentence from being carried out,” said Maryam Malekpour.

The death sentence of web designer Saeed Malekpour, which was confirmed by the Supreme Court, was sent to the Enforcement Unit in February, without serving notice to his lawyers, depriving them of the chance to request a further review.

“Unfortunately, Saeed’s death sentence was sent to the Implementation Unit quickly and without the knowledge of my brother’s lawyers. When my brother’s lawyers went to the Revolutionary Court to receive his death sentence, they realized that the sentence had already been sent to the Enforcement Unit…. I mean they didn’t even give his lawyers a chance to request further judicial review. When they went to court to request a further review, they were told that the case file is no longer in the court to enable a further review,” she told the Campaign.

Security forces arrested Canadian resident Saeed Malekpour, 36, when he returned to Iran in 2008 to visit his ailing father. He appeared on Iranian state TV in 2009 and confessed to charges raised against him. In October 2010 he was sentenced to death on charges of “insulting Islamic sanctities” for alleged “management of pornographic websites.” The Supreme Court overturned the sentence in November 2011 because of deficiencies in investigations and insufficient evidence, and forwarded his case to the Revolutionary Court. Even so, the Supreme Court upheld his death sentence on 30 January 2012.

“We have not been allowed to visit with him for 50 days and we are kept completely in the dark about his conditions. Our letters and requests have all gone unanswered,”  Maryam Malekpour told the Campaign.

In her February 2012 interview with the Campaign, Maryam Malekpour reported mounting pressure on her brother for forced confessions.