Death Sentence Upheld for Iranian Web Designer

It has been confirmed that the Iranian Supreme Court has upheld the death sentence of Web site designer Saeed Malekpour. A Canadian resident, Malekpour was detained in 2008 while visiting his family in Iran after being accused of “anti-government agitation” and “insulting Islam”.  Other recent victims of those accused of similar crimes include Simien Nematollahi, a contributor to a pro-Sufi website accused of “anti-government propaganda.”  Iranian officials have arrested and prosecuted violators of ”Internet crimes,” often subjecting them to arrest by “plain-clothed men” and sham trials without lawyers.

Prosecutor-General Legal Assistant Abdosamad Khoramabadi has recently introduced legislation containing a list of “Internet crimes” which will govern the March 2012 elections. Among the list are crimes such as the “publication of logos and/or content from opposition and counterrevolutionary websites” and “calls for election boycotts.”

In response to increasingly restrictive controls regarding online expression, E.U. officials have spoken out against the use of surveillance and has urged Western governments to support grassroots acitivy in Iran. Reporters Without Borders, a group which has listed Iran as an “Internet enemy,” has continued to support H.R. 3605, the Global Internet Freedom Act (GOFA), which was introduced by Rep. Christopher Smith (D-CT) to  ”ban the export of Internet filtering and surveillance equipment to countries that flout online freedom of expression” and has written the UN Office of High Commissioner to intercede in the recent cases of crackdowns.