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."
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.
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. :(
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
Maybe a case for avaaz.org?
Privacy begins with
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.
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.
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
So take the guys cars away from him.
OTOH, maybe this is just the start of the outsourcing of the death penalty by the US. "Attention MegaUpload.com guy, due to technical difficulties the plane currently extraditing you to the US for trial is making a brief stopover in Iran. Feel free to get out and stretch your legs.".
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/
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?
... or have them stretched for you. Torture? No, we don't do it here! This is just 'enhanced physical activity'.
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.
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.
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).
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.
My country doesn't have the death penalty
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 ----
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.
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
I've noticed there was one Republican candidate who didn't do that...
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.
As bad as they are, I don't recall that anyone would be put to death because they wrote software to, say, share copyrighted material.
A sense of perspective goes a long way.
The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
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?
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.
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
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.
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
Enough said. Anarchy is Democracy.
Twitter: @dainsanefh
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."