An outpouring of controversy has continued since the story of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani was made global by her lawyer (at the time), Mohammad Mostafaei, which immediately raised human rights issues with international concern over her initial barbaric sentencing of being stoned to death.
Lapidation or stoning, as it is more commonly referred to, is a form of capital punishment where people throw stones at the accused, whom is buried up to their neck, until they die. The stones used are large enough to cause pain but are small enough to not cause immediate death. This type of punishment satisfies Islamic law for adultery as well as eliminates any one person from being identified or responsible for the killing of the accused.
A court in East Azerbijan found 43-year old Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani guilty of participating in an illicit relationship outside of marriage with two men after the death of her husband. In May of 2006 she was flogged, receiving 99 lashes. She has been imprisoned in Tabriz since.
That following September, another court reopened her case, this time concentrating on events that allegedly took place before the death of her husband. Iranian officials claim to have found her guilty of the murder of her husband, concluding she should face capital punishment of ‘rajam’, Arabic for stoning.
Stoning was used as a punishment for the 18 crimes in Judaism, but this form of capital punishment was abolished in 30 C.E. (common or Christian era), however, stoning remains a common practice in most Islamic countries. More than 90 per cent of Iranians are Muslim. Islamic law condones death by stoning to any person who engages in unlawful sexual relations outside of marriage. This includes homosexuality and rape.
Mohammadi Ashtiani says the reason her punishment is different than that of her co-accused, “(The answer) is quite simple, it’s because I’m a woman, it’s because they think they can do anything to women in this country. It’s because for them adultery is worse than murder – but not all kinds of adultery: an adulterous man might not even be imprisoned but an adulterous women is the end of the world for them. It’s because I’m in a country where its women do not have the right to divorce their husbands and are deprived of their basic rights.”
Since international attention has been brought to this case, Ashitani’s first lawyer, Mohannad Mostafaei, has fled to Norway and filed for asylum after a warrant was issued for his arrest. His wife has since been arrested and remains imprisoned without charges.
Many international campaigns have been launched to stop the stoning. Human Rights advocates such as Amnesty International and several foreign security groups have referred to this punishment as medieval with complete disregard for human rights. Unfortunately, Ms. Ashtiani has been forewarned that all appeals for clemency have been rejected and that death, most likely by hanging, is imminent.
Related Articles
- Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, Iran Stoning Death Woman, May Be Spared Execution, Lawyer Says (huffingtonpost.com)
- AP Interview: Iranian May Be Spared Execution (abcnews.go.com)
- Lawyer for Woman in Iran Stoning Case Says She May Be Spared Execution (foxnews.com)
- “IRAN: Woman sentenced to stoning death ‘confesses’ to assisting murder, slams her lawyer on state TV” and related posts (latimesblogs.latimes.com)
