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Web Developer Sentenced To Death In Iran
An anonymous reader points out the case of Saeed Malekpour, an Iranian-born permanent resident of Canada who worked as a web developer. 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." In 2009, he was sentenced to death for "acting against the national security, insulting and desecrating the principles of Islam, and agitating the public mind." Malekpour wrote photo-uploading software, and in a letter he sent from prison, he said it was used by porn sites without his knowledge. This week an Iranian court reviewed the case and confirmed that the death sentence was an acceptable punishment. According to one Canadian publication, "Human rights monitors believe that Malekpour, one of a number of people held on Internet-related charges, is trapped by a convoluted justice system that is manipulated by rival factions in Iran."
You're in danger the second you step into Iran. Don't do business there, don't visit there.
...I've written some bad code in my time.. but not that bad.
I very rarely post links to YouTube videos, but this one is very much related to the topic, and I fully agree with it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVMho2cP1NE.
Disagree != mod troll.
Give the man a break. It's not like he deployed untested code to production.
Canada should go to war over this. Another country is murdering one of their citizens (Iranian born or not) on trumped-up charges. Are there any crimes in this savage country that don't deserve the death sentence?
He will end up being pardoned and sent back to Canada, thus showing Iran as having an enlightened justice system. We've seen this over and over again.
The question is: why oh why do all of these people go back to fscking Iran ?!
Religion is what happens when nature strikes and groupthink goes wrong.
what i read this as my first thought sprang to my mind was 'Oh, dear god, will someone bomb that crazy country.' I don't mind other shock and awe campaign takes place there... Really.
I wish all the best for Malekpour. :(
Sometimes, against my better instincts, I think that some cultures just don't have the right to exist.
is trapped by a convoluted justice system that is manipulated by rival factions in [insert country here].
FTFY.
On the one hand, one might argue that Malekpour knew - or should have known - what he risked by returning to Iran.
OTOH, the death penalty is heinous in and by itself.
The question that comes to my mind, and that I would very much like to have feedback upon, is: does this case deserve a campaign, under "us" computer programmers, geeks, architects, database tuners and birds of many digital feathers, to free Malekpour ?
Religous speak to God. Insane are spoken to by God. When all shut up, one can finally hear Shostakovich in peace
You know, it's easy to just glaze over things like, "conversion from int to long," "unused variable," or "insulting and desecrating the principles of Islam." But it's better to fix them . . . it may save your life!
Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
This is one of the numerous examples why death penalty should never exist.
Video of some good progressive thrash music
The flip side of megaupload. Who knows which of the ~200 governments doesn't like what you do?
http://stephan.sugarmotor.org
Damn tag!!
Mark Edwards
Maybe a case for avaaz.org?
Privacy begins with
An ICHRI report published in mid-January said that Iran has hanged an average of one person every eight hours since the beginning of the new year.
Ah, the mercy of Allah I've been hearing so much about...
This is what happens when any country is run by insert religion here. We see it in Iran, Pakistan, Iraq, etc. These countries really are better off under dictators rather than leading themselves, compare Saudi Arabia to Somalia. We will see a lot more of this in the "Arab Spring" countries. I expect to be modded down by the PC crowd with their "all belief systems are equal" and "a Theocracy can be just as good as secular democracy (as long as it isn't Christian)" comments but they are just ignoring what actually happens whenever insert religious group here get into power. Surprise surprise they follow the teaching of insert religion here - from a demented warlord with a taste for little girls.
Bonus points: come up with five religions that could make the above quote factually correct.
"The most dangerous enemy of a better solution is an existing codebase that is just good enough." -- Eric S. Raymond
Remember all those british sailors who got captured for sailing into their territorial waters?
Again, forced confessions, torture.
Iran is probably just flexing its muscles in an attempt to assert sovereignty.
Not, I would say, a particularly PC view, and doubtless one that will get you modded troll quicker than a quick thing. But I would temper your view with a rather more - shall we say diplomatic? - way of putting things.
Some views are fundamentally incompatible and unless both parties are prepared to compromise, conflict will ultimately result. Full stop, end of conversation. Get together people who feel strongly enough to kill to make their point and give them the means to do so, you probably shouldn't be too surprised when they do. There's no way of getting around this, and to pretend there is is probably the most damaging thing extreme political correctness has ever achieved.
In this case, the conflict is between very conservative Muslims who happen to be in charge of a country and the West, but it could just as easily be between animal liberation people and drugs testing labs.
Independent? Don't you know that Slashdot is controlled by world jewry, just like everything else? Read the protocols of their elders for some evidence.
If america is going to shut down websites and prosecute foreign citizens (MegaUpload.com) for violation of OUR laws then we should expect the same from foreign countries. Whats good for the goose is good for the gander.
Im Just Sayin
If they had their way, this is the kind of "justice" that they want: the worst penalty they can get away with, using the full power of the state, and no effective appeal. In both cases, tyranny is the desired result.
Why is Snark Required?
Not, I would say, a particularly PC view, and doubtless one that will get you modded troll quicker than a quick thing. But I would temper your view with a rather more - shall we say diplomatic? - way of putting things.
Some views are fundamentally incompatible and unless both parties are prepared to compromise, conflict will ultimately result. Full stop, end of conversation. Get together people who feel strongly enough to kill to make their point and give them the means to do so, you probably shouldn't be too surprised when they do. There's no way of getting around this, and to pretend there is is probably the most damaging thing extreme political correctness has ever achieved.
In this case, the conflict is between very conservative Muslims who happen to be in charge of a country and the West, but it could just as easily be between animal liberation people and drugs testing labs.
Islam is not just incompatible with the west but fundamental principles such as equality, freedom of speech, freedom of religion, right to life (for homosexuals etc.), democracy, and a lot more. Its true that some animal testers would go to war with anti-vivisectionists and vice versa, but they would want a reformulation of laws that would apply to everyone - they would not want to prevent certain sections from expressing their view or testifying in court. Islam is fundamentally opposed to our ideas of rights and equality.
Read the protocols of their elders for some evidence.
What, like Telnet and UUCP and stuff like that?
"Little does he know, but there is no 'I' in 'Idiot'!"
Globalized injustice...
Iran currently has one among the most insulting and desecrating governments on planet Earth.
It is one among many countries who detain foreign nationals without a proper legal system, and like many other 3rd world countries it has retained the death penalty.
How many countries act on these lethal principles? I don't know, but the list is long and is typically related to countries where the populace and those who believe in supernatural forces have a say on the political agenda.
I've never heard of this Burt Prelutsky, but is he always an ignorant cunt?
I mean, seriously? Nobody's worried about jewish people building houses in Israel. They're pretty fucking pissed about Israeli people building houses in Palestine but that's a very different thing.
Not to mention the attempt to incite religious divide by naming the activities of two religions, rather than the fuckwits practicing either.
The idiots in Tehran would be idiots in any religion. The Israelis illegally settling in Palestine may actually be Christian, atheist or in fact fucking Muslim themselves.
No wonder you posted as AC, I too would be ashamed to have made such an ignorant and stupid statement.
It is an exclamation mark in brackets, and it doesn't have a name. [English nerd here]
I write professional videogame reviews! http://www.digitallydownloaded.net/
A country run by (fundamentalist) Muslims is not a good idea. Same goes for fundamentalist Christians. Or fundamentalist whatever.
To have any moral standing you'd have to fight death penalty in your own country.
So, a piece of software for photo uploading can damage islam? WHat a f*cking weak religion.
Looks more like maybe he was the sole inheritor of property of his father, and someone wanted him out of the picture. So they came up with the grand charge of 'insulting islam' and bribed some judges..
Tell me, according to these islamists, is there any person alive on earth (except those unwashed bearded mullas) who are not guilty of insulting islam some way or the other?
Heck, everyone connected with any part of internet would all be guilty of insulting islam and therefore target for murder, then.
So the Iranian government is worried about porn, but it's okay for its interrogators to threaten sexual assault? How does this make any sense?
Hah - trick question, I see what you did there. The correct answer is that religion is irrelevant. People are dicks, regardless of what beliefs they hold. Religious dicks just seem to take it to extremes. (AC to preserve mod privileges on story)
Never forget that governments are inherently evil, because they occupy the space that is historically occupied by the inherently evil forces that fight for power over people.
That's why Constitution is important - law above the government set by the people to limit what government can do.
That is why people who should really be supporting a system of laws set by the Constitution, but who find themselves defending government's action that go above and beyond any Constitutional restrictions are so confused. Often those are the people who want government to cuddle them and give them entitlements and put obligations on others to provide those entitlements, but then government gains strength over all people and those who rely on entitlements are the ones who are going to suffer at the end, because those don't want entitlements can already take care of themselves and always see a government for what it is.
You can't handle the truth.
...are bound by illogical and fantasy rules & regulations that only makes sense to a fanatically indoctrinated mind.
The headline in this post is also typical of the sensationalist kind, yes - it's sad that it's a web developer that got the death sentence, but it would be equally sad that it would be anyone in any other category as well, it's why they're being judged that we should react on - not what status they have in society.
What this world is coming to - is for you and me to decide.
What's the punctuation mark for bad sarcasm called?
It is an exclamation mark in brackets, and it doesn't have a name. [English nerd here]
Interesting. So what's the punctuation mark for good sarcasm?
Buddhism? I dunno, how about you go first..
The problem with slashdot is that most of its users were bullied and stuffed into lockers as kids!
1/ what's the name of the software (I tried to google him in various file extensions, but could not find him)
2/ list of websites that use it.
I do not believe in karma. "Funny"=-6. Do good and forbid evil. Yours, Oft-Offtopic Flamebaiting Troll.
There's a campaign to help this man: https://peoplewithoutnation.wordpress.com/
Most recently, there's an appeal to write to the Prime Minister of Canada, who hasn't yet spoken out in support of Saeed:
https://peoplewithoutnation.wordpress.com/2012/01/19/take-action-write-a-letter-to-stephen-harper-canadas-prime-minister/
The death sentence could be carried out imminently.
Saeed Malekpour was in Iran to visit his gravely ill father. He was waiting for Canadian citizenship and the Iranian regime are aiming to make an example of him, having tortured him and denied him due process. I think the Canadian government does have a particular moral duty to stand up for him under the circumstances, although really all democratic governments ought to oppose this sort of thing.
The Iranian regime seems to have an interest in intimidating the population (and making an example out of cases that are highly-publicised internally, such as this one) since there's an election coming up in March, as well as the general interest in keeping the population scared.
Amnesty also have some information on the case:
http://www.amnesty.org/en/news/iran-must-halt-execution-web-programmer-2012-01-19
I'm just piecing together some information I've found here, I'm not connected to the case.
I'm sure other countries will produce more if Iran gets cut off. It may take some time, but we have other resource for oil, while Iran doesn't have other resources for basically, everything else. They'll run out of food rather quick and we know what happens if people get hungry. I'm fairly certain that it will take less than a year to starve them so badly, they'll overthrow their government just to get food for oil.
I was promised a flying car. Where is my flying car?
Indescribably funny.
But I'm not surprised considering the barbaric nature of the Iranian judiciary and the way they treat their own people. Businesses should boycott Iran en masse and let them know why they are doing so. Money talks and if the mullahs that run the country see that the bucks are not flowing in, they'll make sure that their version of the Tea Party that's epitomized by Ahmadinejad goes the way of the dinosaur.
Hey Sparky, you think Christianity is? Read a bible lately? Taken literally, it's incompatible with all your points and then some.
You see, Sparky, it's the fundamentalists on both sides that are incompatible with the modern world. Be they Christian, Buddhist or Islamic.
It's only your xenophobia that blinds you to that simple fact.
This is what happens when any country is run by Muslims. We see it in Iran, Pakistan, Iraq, etc.
How's the situation in Indonesia, by the way? It also has a strong Muslim population base, Jakarta being the world's 2nd largest city (Tokyo is 1st).
This is what happens when any country is run by Muslims. We see it in Iran, Pakistan, Iraq, etc.
How's the situation in Indonesia, by the way? It also has a strong Muslim population base, Jakarta being the world's 2nd largest city (Tokyo is 1st).
Aside from mobs attacking churches, laws coming i that call for amputation, and laws that subjugate minorities it is doing well. As Muslim states go it is a political paradise, only a low level of sustained violence with occasional massacres .
This is a crime in most any countries. It just varies what that means from place to place. Here in the US, copying a song, or selling breath mints, qualifies.
---- Booth was a patriot ----
I guess this was the objective of Congress with SOPA and PIPA. Don't laugh. Your freedoms are being stolen everyday by a culture of corruption in Washington.
Well, let's see here. Maybe not *in* the US, but *by* the US:
you can be gunned down by Apache helicopters for peacefully assembling
you can be thrown into indefinite jail on the word of a paid informant
If you are a foreign leader, you can be deposed and hung
or deposed and brought into the US to stand trial for breaking US laws
If you are a foreign citizen, you can be extradited and put in jail for breaking civil law
If you are a US citizen the president can have you killed by the CIA
You can be tortured by the US (for some definitions of torture)
You can be shipped to another country and tortured (for all definitions of torture)
I dunno, it's a tough choice. Is Iran worse than the US because it visits harsh penalties on a few people, or is the US worse because it's actions are milder but more widespread?
Because, as we know, we can only oppose one evil at a time. Comparing the relative evil helps us to make that choice.
Oh, and let's not forget China.
Right Islam is a violent faith based in hate. It always was, right from its beginnings but for some reasons we are required to ignore history both ancient and recent to be politically correct.
Read the Koran. Then post an intelligent argument about the history of Islam. Like Christianity the fundamental beauty and truth has been subverted by religious zealots who seek only to gain power. The truths that are expressed in the Koran and the Christian Bible are the same. Those who kill in the name of God are blasphemers plain and simple. The Koran acknowledges this as does Christianity. Iran is a blasphemous state because those who are in power distort the truth in the name of Islam and in so doing pervert justice to their own needs not the needs of a true Islamic community.
I've been following the U.S. elections for a bit (the selecting of the Republican candidate); based on that, I'd say that
American culture is not modern, and
modern culture is not American.
One candidate (Rick Perry I believe) confused whether the war was with Iraq or Iran, and they all want to increase their popularity with the Republican voters by jingoism against Iran. Frankly it's distasteful to read.
But that's not what the world-war-III jingoism is really about. it's not even about religion either.
Saddam Hoessein was a very close friend of the USA. He only became "enemy nr. 2" when he decided to price Iraqi oil in euros instead of US$.
When the Ghawar giant field in Saudi Arabia dries up, maybe the main source of oil will be the Iranian ayatollahs. And if they have the audacity to commit the unforgivable crime against U.S. foreign policy of pricing their own oil in either euros or a "basket of currencies", this could spell the end of the petro-dollar .
I am convinced that this is the cause of the my-gunboat-is-bigger-than-your-gunboat manoeuvres by USA and Iran in the Strait of Hormuz: USA positioning their aircraft carrier == diplomatic language for "keep selling your oil for US$ or else", and Iran Revolutionary Guard putting up battieries of anti-ship missiles == diplomatic language for "we'll sell our oil in our bourse in euros or yen or yuan whenever we want to, njaah njaah njaah"
Don't got back to Iran.
I am sure our libertarian/liberal fascist nazi blogging overlords wholeheartedly endorse this.
Usually, I don't side with Iran bashing. But THIS particular case upsets me.
I do not accept US imposing its laws outside of its borders. Remember that case of a Russian programmer that as part of his job in Moscow had written code that was removing some form of DRM by Adobe? How he was then grabbed by US authorities and threatened with 20 year sentence or so?
Now - 20 years is better then death penalty, BUT, he was not a citizen of the US. Yet arrested for violating US laws, not Russian laws, while doing job, assigned to him by his supervisor, as an employee (not owner) of the company he worked for.
Fortunately EFF and others got involved and this way or another he got back to Moscow, but I doubt he will be visiting US again, although Russian people are known to be crazy enough to do things like that :)
Maybe EFF should get involved, if they are not, with this case as well.
Vassili Leonov
This is the religious right in the US wants. (To be fair, it's what any religious adherents want.)
If you reply, do so only to what I explicitly wrote. If I didn't write it, don't assume or infer it.
Samuel 18:27 David rose up and went, he and his men, and struck down two hundred men among the Philistines. Then David brought their foreskins, and they gave them in full number to the king, that he might become the king's son-in-law. So Saul gave him Michal his daughter for a wife.
And I'm pretty sure they enjoy looking at Porn so the dude would have been fine on a trip to the US.
child porn?
Lets roll in their and get his him outa there... Sounds like a good enough reason to mess their stuff up. They messing with our oil neways, along with building a nuclear program. I think its time for a personal visit from some f22z.
We need a new glass parking lot. Not just in Iran.. the whole fracking human world is nuts.
This is what happens when any country is run by Muslims. We see it in Iran, Pakistan, Iraq, etc.
How's the situation in Indonesia, by the way? It also has a strong Muslim population base, Jakarta being the world's 2nd largest city (Tokyo is 1st).
Aside from mobs attacking churches, laws coming i that call for amputation, and laws that subjugate minorities it is doing well. As Muslim states go it is a political paradise, only a low level of sustained violence with occasional massacres .
Right on cue: Indonesian Man Faces Five Years For Atheist Facebook Post
Unless you presume that Slashdot is a 100% US site, only read by US viewers and only concerned with happenings in the US (and thus only reporting on foreign news as it effects America) then it is moronic and egotistical to try and steer everything to be a discussion about the US. People not from the US (and heck those from it as well) might be interested in what is happening in the rest of the world, and discussing it. It is stupid to try and twist the discussion back around to always be about the US.
that he did not think of doing this first.
The crime being stuck to the person is the problem; the punishment is merely relative to the culture. Iran probably will not kill him; they love those harsh things then make some sort of deal we don't know much about and a few years later he is out like an American hiker.
Democracy Now! - uncensored, anti-establishment news
The moment you mention this obvious conflict everyone goes silent ... "weird".
Unless of course you assume that every "modern" thinker, whether we're talking atheists, human rights activists, ... are really deep, deep cowards out for a quick buck. They attack what they know they can easily get away with (Christianity, Israel, American govt., ...) and which they know will bring them attention. Everything else they don't care about.
And when it comes to an enemy of human rights, atheism, freedom, or whatever that might actually retaliate, there are near-zero opinions on the matter.
Muslims get to claim islam is modern while pushing for paedophilia-rewarding laws in a dozen countries (ie. the right to rape 7-year old girls against their will like their prophet did). The right to kill for religious reasons (whether we're talking insults or apostates, or the many muslim religious genocides). The right to oppress people, religiously, ethnically, ... nobody protests.
Is this really the message of "tolerance", the message of "modernity" ? Because it sure as hell looks like it.
So everyone, take heed : "attack people on the street for vague reasons and you will have the support of the media, 'modern thinkers' and you can actually secure preferential treatment before the law".
You make a p0rn video of yourself and a 18+ partner , post it on all the social networks you can imagine and you just get a lot of "likes". win.
This is just a scenario , i don't encourage this!
I saw a link to this website in another person's comment:
https://peoplewithoutnation.wordpress.com/2012/01/19/take-action-write-a-letter-to-stephen-harper-canadas-prime-minister/
I took a few minutes to write my own letter to Canada's Prime Minister. Who knows if he will read it or if it will make a difference? And who knows if Mr. Malekpour is actually guilty or not? Regardless, no one deserves to die for something like that. Please take a moment to speak your mind to Canada's Prime Minister: pm@pm.gc.ca
- witchcraft
- apostasy
- blasphemy
- homosexuality
- crimes against chastity (i.e. the crime of being raped)
And Iran executes more people, per-capita , than any other nation
Also worth mentioning, Iran executes people for these "crimes" in the most gruesome, and painful ways possible: beheading, hanging, even stoning. The hangings are usually suspension hangings which are far more painful, and last much longer.
Iran also executes children as young as nine years old.
Other than execution, Iranian punishments include: amputation and flogging. Although sometimes those turn out to be executions also. As in the case of a child who was sentenced to 100 lashes, after being raped by a relative. She collapsed after 70 lashes, and died soon afterward. No punishment for the relative.
What exactly is this relatively new religion, that is worse than any kooky cult as far as murderousness and insanity and overall negative impact on life on this planet, still doing being protected as "religion" and not being extinguished as dangerously bloodthirsty and insane cults usually are? Shouldn't the non-Muslim world be declaring all-out war on the worst and most pointless mental programming ever to be crapped out by the human race, just for their own safety and because it would make the world better?
But herein lies what is so ridiculous about it, the ones who are in charge are probably the most hypocritical, cynical and manipulative of the bunch. So, no it doesn't boil down to a clash of cultures in most cases, but a clash of power & political structures.
"but it could just as easily be between animal liberation people and drugs testing labs".
Please explain, this makes no sense whatsoever.
Bonus points: come up with five religions that could make the above quote factually correct.
Hanafi, Hanbali, Maliki, Shafi'i, Jafari? ~
The difference is that we've already mostly dealt with militant Christianity in the West. Not to say it isn't still there (especially in U.S.) or that it's not the problem. But it doesn't run the whole thing; at best, it's one of the parties.
:) thanks.
__
Men with no respect for life must never be allowed to control the ultimate instruments of death.
GW Bu
Embrace Iran's Diversity!
"Human rights monitors believe that Malekpour, one of a number of people held on Internet-related charges, is trapped by a convoluted justice system that is manipulated by a bunch of fuck'n whackjobs."
A death sentence for that? Go to Iran, go to jail. Now THAT's justice.
Enough said. Anarchy is Democracy.
Twitter: @dainsanefh
Iran, seriously?
Grow up and start acting like a modern society, or gquit and gtfo.
Ignorance is the lamest excuse.
Executing this guy is like punishing your child because their friend drew something obscene on your kid's notepad. Death is a very unreasonable punishment that only hurts everyone.
Please reconsider.
Signed,
Everyone.
I don't know about all of ya.. but some people here would agree that Iran is "now" making a serious issue by taking the poor web dev's acts seriously...cmon hes a web dev. he earns for his living. and not like you fuk'd up oil pumpin bitches who lays on racks made of gold by selling some black oil outta your fore/grand fathers land :/
This is one more reason why I'm not going back to visit until they start giving the mullahs the Benito Mussolini/Nicolae Ceauescu treatment.
"The Greens lynched a hacker in Chicago. Last month, but I think the body's still hanging from the old Water Tower."
...thank God I don't live in a country that bases its thinking in religious zealotry!