Canada censures continuing “flagrant” human rights abuses in Iran

NCRI, 03 February 2011 – Canada on Tuesday renewed its condemnation of human rights abuses by the clerical regime in Iran, AFP reported on Tuesday.
It particularly raised concerns about a death sentence handed down to an Iranian-born Canadian resident by the regime.
 
“Canada remains deeply concerned by the continued flagrant disregard of the Iranian authorities for the rights of both Iranian and dual-national citizens,” Melissa Lantsman, spokeswoman for Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon, told AFP.
Saeed Malekpour, 35, the Iranian-born Canadian resident, was sentenced to death in December. He worked as a freelance website developer and programmer.
“This appears to be another case in which someone in Iran is facing a death sentence after a highly questionable process,” Ms. Lantsman said.
According to the AFP, on Sunday, the clerical regime’s prosecutor Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi was quoted by the state-run IRNA news agency as saying two verdicts, one of them with respect to Mr. Malekpour, were sent to the regime’s high court for confirmation.
On Saturday, an Iranian woman also with dual national citizenship, was executed after being arrested for taking part in the 2009 uprisings against the regime.
Zahra Bahrami was 45 and had both Dutch and Iranian citizenship.
According to Reuters, the Netherlands froze official contacts with the Iranian regime in protest to the brutal execution. A Dutch foreign affairs ministry spokesman called the hanging of the 45-year-old mother “an act committed by a barbaric regime.”