Pressure Works! Iran may back down from stoning of woman
Her death sentence still stands as of now, apparently. Hopefully this will also be changed.
Iran has apparently submitted to intense international pressure, promising to review a judicial sentence calling for the death by stoning of a woman convicted of adultery. The sentence so far has not been commuted.
Sakineh Mohamamadi Ashtiani, a 43-year-old mother of two in the northwestern Iranian city of Tabriz, was accused of having extramarital relations with two men who ended up killing her husband. After two trials she was sentenced to death by stoning, which if carried out would have been the first known stoning to take place in the Islamic Republic in years.
Dozens of international rights groups, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, took up Ashtiani’s case after it was first leaked to Radio Farda by women’s rights activist Soheila Vahdati last week. The impending stoning was discussed in a number of Western parliaments and condemned by U.S. Senator John Kerry (D-Mass.); the European Union’s foreign policy chief; the foreign ministers of Canada and Germany; and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. A number of celebrities, including American actress Lindsay Lohan, playwright David Hare, philosopher A.C. Grayling and actors Emma Thompson, Juliette Binoche and Colin Firth all made statements about the case.
Iran announced over the weekend that while Ashtiani’s death sentence will stand, the sentence and option for appeal will be reviewed. Officials were quick to deny that the decision was a response to the international outcry.
“Our judicial system cannot change its course because of Western attack and media pressure,” Iran High Council for Human Rights chief Mohammad-Javad Larijani told Iran’s state news agency IRNA on Friday. “The commotion that the Western media has started in connection with this case will not affect our judges’ views. The execution of Islamic religious laws on death by stoning, hijab and inheritance has always faced their audacious animosity and basically any issue which hints of religious law is always opposed by them.”
Pashad Husseini, an advocate for the International Committee Against Stoning who is in touch Ashtiani’s family and lawyer, declared victory.
“This is a victory of the people of the world, and thanks to the amazing coverage from the international news media,” he told The Media Line. “Over 30 years we have had many successful cases with international campaigns to intervene in stoning sentences.”
“It’s very important to note that they have not definitely canceled the sentence, they have just said that they will review the case,” Husseini warned. “There are some examples in the past in which they said they will review the case and then in the end they carry out the stoning sentence. The children are optimistic that their mother’s imminent stoning has been cancelled, but they are still concerned about the future.”
Mohammad Mostafaie, a famous human rights lawyer in Tehran who took on Ashtiani’s case after hearing of the sentence of stoning, said there has been no official change