It was a life and death decision that was made in a split second. And once made, Saeed Malekpour knew there would be no turning back.“I knew I would rather die than go back to prison,” he said. “It was not really a choice for me.”Malekpour, 44, a Canadian permanent resident, was in his mother’s home in Tehran, savouring his first breath of freedom from the fetid cells of Iran’s feared Evin Prison. For 11 years, he had been locked up on spurious charges in conditions few humans could withstand: beaten, tortured, held in solitary confinement for more than 500 days, and twice put on death row, awaiting an execution that could come without warning.With his last death sentence commuted to life, he was granted a brief furlough, on condition that he could raise money for bail. And after years of waiting for approval, he was given the chance for a brief three-day respite.It was the starting point of a perilous escape that he knew could lead either to freedom or disaster. Its success was owed to luck, as well as his own ingenuity and the unflagging support of his sister, and a group of international advocates who paved the way for his return to Canada.Now back in his former home, the West Coast, Malekpour recalls the tense days before the furlough, locked in a dank cell with other prisoners, pondering his fate.“I made some plans then, but I was still thinking maybe I should just go back to prison and wait,” he said in a phone interview from Vancouver.But when the time came, the taste of freedom was too sweet for hesitation and the thought of looming captivity too bitter.Once out of prison, he said, “I talked to Maryam on the phone and told her I’d rather die than go back. She was ready to help — but she said I would have to act quickly. I said yes right away.”It was Malekpour’s younger sister Maryam who had raised $35,000 for his bail and campaigned for his furlough for five years before it was ...
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