News

Members of Canada’s government and its Parliament issued strong protests Thursday on news that Saeed Malekpour’s case has been transferred to the Iranian court that schedules executions.

The condemned Canadian resident has been under a death sentence in Iran on charges of “corrupting the earth” since 2010. But this week his lawyers discovered that his case file had progressed to the final stage of imminent hanging.

“Canada condemns Iran’s reported decision to execute Mr. Malekpour,” said a statement from Foreign Minister John Baird’s spokesman Joseph Lavoie. “We hold Iran accountable for his treatment and well-being.”

Meanwhile, the House of Commons unanimously backed a motion by Tory MP Costas Menagakis voicing parliament’s “deep concern for the safety of Iranian citizen Saeed Malekpour.”

The motion holds Iran accountable and asks it to “reverse its current course, meet its international human rights obligation and release prisoners such as Saeed Malekpour and others who have failed to receive fair and transparent legal treatment.”

Separately, Senator Linda Frum said she was “deeply distressed to learn that the judicial murder of Saeed Malekpour appears to be proceding.”