An Iranian web programmer could soon be executed on charges of developing porn sites.The Guardian reports: "Saeed Malekpour, a permanent resident of Canada who was arrested in October 2008 after his arrival in Tehran, is convicted of designing and moderating adult content websites, acting against the national security, insulting and desecrating the principles of Islam, and agitating the public mind." The government is waiting for the supreme court to sanction the sentence.
Executions are common in Iran, and one person has been executed every eight hours since the beginning of the new year. Malekpour was allegedly tortured for a confession, and is in confinement now.
Malekpour's wife Eftekhari told the paper he had been falsely convicted after someone used the photo uploading software that he had developed to design porn sites. She believes the Iranian government is trying to instil fear and suppress the opposition by executing a large number of people.
Human rights organisations have been opposing the killings. Last month, the Dutch government suspended its diplomatic relations with Iran after Teheran executed a Dutch-Iranian woman on charges of drug smuggling, the Guardian reported.
Though capital punishment is in practice in India, executions take place very rarely. Ajmal Kasab, the Pakistani terrorist who gunned down passengers arriving at Mumbai's busiest railway station, has been awarded a death sentence, and a decision on his appeal is due on February 21.