Canadian Faces Execution In Iran

A computer programmer from Canada faces imminent execution in Iran for the actions of another person, which he had no control over, a human rights group says.

 Saeed Malekpour wrote a program to upload photos to the Internet, an accomplishment that could cost him his life. Authorities in the Islamic Republic claimed his program was used by someone else to upload pornography and charged him with "insulting and desecrating Islam." Malekpour, who is a Toronto resident, was arrested in October 2008 while visiting relatives in Iran. He was convicted in a short trial and was sentenced to death in October 2011.

 Read More: Saeed Malekpour

 Malekpour sent a letter from prison detailing beatings and other mistreatment at the hands of Iranian prison officials to obtain a confession, said Hadi Ghaemi, executive director of the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran. "A large portion of my confession was extracted under pressure, physical and psychological torture, threats to myself and my family, and false promises of immediate release upon giving a false confession to whatever the interrogators dictated," the letter says.