Slashdot Mirror
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."
Sorry, but it is not. In fact, events by now have thoroughly refuted it. The woman was an agent and she was traded for, the two guys were innocent patsies and they had to earn their release through standard channels. The OP is right: the original story strained credulity all along and in the end it was proven false. Only in American would people not raise an eyebrow when told about this.