Iran Stoning: Woman To Be Executed For Adultery

TEHRAN, Iran -- Authorities in Iran said Sunday they are again moving ahead with plans to execute a woman sentenced to death by stoning on an adultery conviction in a case that sparked an international outcry, but are considering whether to carry out the punishment by hanging instead.

Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani is already behind bars, serving a 10-year sentence on a separate conviction in the murder of her husband. Amid the international outrage her case generated, Iran in July 2010 suspended plans to carry out her death sentence on the adultery conviction.

On Sunday, a senior judiciary official said experts were studying whether the punishment of stoning could be changed to hanging.

"There is no haste. ... We are waiting to see whether we can carry out the execution of a person sentenced to stoning by hanging or not," said Malek Ajdar Sharifi, the head of justice department of East Azerbaijan province, where Ashtiani is jailed.

"As soon as the result (of the investigation) is obtained, we will carry out the sentence," he said, according to the semi-official ISNA news agency.

The charge of a married woman having an illicit relationship requires a punishment of stoning, he said.

He said judiciary chief Ayatollah Sadeq Larijani ordered a halt to stoning in order to allow Islamic experts to investigate whether the punishment can be altered in Ashtiani's case.

Ashtiani was convicted of adultery in 2006 after the murder of her husband.

She was later convicted of being an accessory to her husband's murder and sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Comments

[The Patriot]

04:05 PM on 02/02/2012

ah just stopping by to quote this article again - for the zillionth time - any time anyone tells me about the modern, intellectual, technological civilization in Iran, all I have to do is link to this page, and say "barbarians" - all other arguments fade, every time. Iran is a country of barbarians, even if Tehran does have a university. Jeez, I hope they didn't kill that poor woman.

[Sion Abramov]

01:25 PM on 01/24/2012

Its stories like these that makes me proud to be an american.

[212to631]

12:55 PM on 01/06/2012

She was wrong for accessory for murder- murder is wrong unless self defense, but still...being stoned for the adultery part is absolutely absurd....it's like these countries never develop and grow and advance, all due to religion most likely.....sad really, think about how many men probably commit adultery and is ok....idk i know very controversial subject...i guess i just don't agree with at least this aspect of their religion....

[Thelost Monk]

12:48 PM on 12/28/2011

Countries that have stoning as a punishment for adulatory. Stoning has been practiced in most of them.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stoning

Afghanistan, Indonesia, Iran, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Somalia.

[Thelost Monk]

11:56 AM on 12/28/2011

Amnesty report
http://action.amnesty.org.uk/ea-action/action?ea.client.id=1194&ea.campaign.id=12236

Stop stoning in Iran

Under Iranian law, stoning is mandatory for both men and women convicted of 'adultery whilst married'.

The practice of stoning as punishment for adultery continues in Iran, despite a government-issued moratorium on the practice in 2002, and a recommendation in 2009 by the Legal and Judicial affairs Committee to remove stoning from the Iranian Penal Code.

Now is a crucial opportunity to stop the barbaric practice of stoning for adultery, as the Iranian authorities are currently reviewing the country's Penal Code - including whether execution by stoning should be retained in the Code.

[veratty]

05:27 AM on 12/28/2011

Why commit adultery if you know that the law of your land says it is an offense that will cost your life? If your country and your religion still believes in the ceremonial laws in the Bible then abide by it or leave. Be faithful to your husband. Thou shall not commit adultery.

[The Mighty Cynic]

08:59 AM on 12/28/2011

it wasn't the adultery, it was the metal wire tied around her husband's toe while he slept. she tied it to a light switch and caused a violent and bloody, painful death. Why? Her criminal gang-leader lover urged her to.

The symbolic stoning verdict is being made a mountain out of - but in Iran, you kill someone, the ultimate verdict will be death. Here, the murder was CAUSED by what they consider illegal, "Adultery", another crime.

Similarly, in America, we have felonies committed in the midst of an armed robbery where people die. We namely speak of it as an armed robbery with fatalities.

There are plenty of cases of injustice in Iran as in America and elsewhere. This focus on Iran comes at a time when the drum beats of war are beating hard.

All of these websites are run by the MEK. www.mekterror.com. They are listed on our FTO list as a terror organization. They sided with Saddam and killed Iranians despite being Iranian themselves. They are a cult.

[ItsJustAthought]

08:16 PM on 12/28/2011

Where did you obtain the details of this case from?

[Azimof]

01:45 AM on 12/29/2011

"The symbolic stoning verdict "
- what a mindless barbaric culture.

[Satirist1]

11:03 PM on 12/27/2011

Those who proselytize for Shariah in West will never post here.

[Thelost Monk]

12:46 PM on 12/28/2011

This is their religion and this is what an adulterer gets.

[Satirist1]

01:13 PM on 12/28/2011

Naive multiculturalism.

[Kaveh Adel Cartoonist]

10:54 PM on 12/27/2011

This is summed up by one word "Upgrade." Stay with me, Stoning was for the stone ages..... Hanging is an upgrade in comparison: http://kavehadel.com/blog/2011/12/political-cartoon-upgrade-for-sakineh-by-iranian-american-cartoonist-kaveh-adel/

[mericart]

10:45 PM on 12/27/2011

Again?! Do they think the outside world is stupid or so attention deficient that they would forget about the case already? One day these people oppressing women should be tried and put in prison, in a not too distant future, I hope.

[RibEye]

10:44 PM on 12/27/2011

The Islamic regime, while oppressing the Iranian people, is planting the seeds of an anti-islamic movement, of which Iran will be the center.

[Greg Mirsky]

07:05 PM on 12/28/2011

I don't think that we're talking about any anti-Islamic movement but rather about reaction of reasonable people to demonstration of religious radicalism, in this case Islamo-fascism that controls Iran. And if people of Iran to rise against the regime more help to them.

[RibEye]

12:54 AM on 12/29/2011

While I agree with your assessment against any religious radicalism and oppression, I suggest that you look into the deep and complicated internal conflict within Iranian society. There is for certain, an effort by the Islamic regime to erase, revise and destroy Iranian pre-Islamic/Persian history, culture, land marks and anything seen as Iranian nationalism which is held above Islam. And while Islam happens to be the flavor of the day let’s not forget that Iranians are not Arab, they are Persians and have and an internal view of Islam as something which was forced on them by invaders and at the same time have respect for it. Some Sunnis view Shiism, which was essentially a product of Iranian nationalism, as enemies of Islam. The teenage heavy metal heads and rockers have already started, some as anti-religious movements.
There a great documentary called “ A head bangers journey”, which at one point looks into the Norwegian death metal movement which was seen as Satan worshipers, but was an anti-religious movement and a byproduct of extremely religious families.

[Threadsline]

10:43 PM on 12/27/2011

10 years for murder..., death for adultery? What would happen if she got caught..., er..., accused of having a meth lab?

[YAMO]

07:25 AM on 12/28/2011

Exactly what I was thinking. Is this a f$#ked up country or what!

[Sion Abramov]

01:26 PM on 01/24/2012

Thats a serious under statement.

[Eagleman]

10:14 PM on 12/27/2011

How Islamic of them...

[adamben]

07:10 PM on 12/27/2011

wow. can we just stay on topic and say that this is wrong and should stop instead of convoluting politics like a moebilus strip? escher monks works? or other impossible political shapes? ok, just kidding. well, this is wrong so stop defending those heinous "judges". and no iran won't be invaded because their regime is despicable; a long list that no one could agree on. no, iran will be attacked when their government gets ready to unleash, or threaten to unleash a nuclear holacaust. of course we can wait until they've murdered tens of millions if not more first but, hey, you move to israel and take your chances.

[The Mighty Cynic]

10:27 PM on 12/27/2011

Why would they unleash a nuclear holocaust when Israel has 400 much deadlier nukes waiting for it? You are a fear monger.

[The Mighty Cynic]

11:43 PM on 12/27/2011

AND WHY WOULD YOU RELEASE IT AS ELMO? :(

[YAMO]

07:27 AM on 12/28/2011

Because their leadership is totally irrational.

[AbrahamSadegh]

06:19 PM on 12/27/2011

"On Sunday, a senior judiciary official said experts were studying whether the punishment of stoning could be changed to hanging."

How about considering the saving grace of an expert living centuries before the dawn of Islam who according to the Quran itself was the highest manifestation of God – "the Messiah, Jesus son of Mary," – saving the life of a woman accused of adultery and about to be by saying, "Let He Who Is Without Sin Cast The First Stone."

Now let's fast forward to the present and consider the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights banning "cruel and unusual punishment."

What needs to be done on a global basis is for the world community to shift the emphasize from acts of personal intimacy between consenting adults to the true sins of spirit such as individual and/or collective selfishness at the expense of others including greed, deception, lies, oppression, dictatorship, and all that brings misery to countless lives.

And speaking about dictatorships, Persia/Iran is going through one of the darkest periods in its long history because those now in power have denied a nation God's gift of Omnipotence – the freedom to choose – through the physical and spiritual straightjacket of their exclusive interpretation of Islam and this is the greatest sin of all.

It is difficult to even imagine the fear and the anxiety Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani must be experiencing just by the thought of being stoned to death.

[The Mighty Cynic]

05:01 PM on 12/27/2011

People never see the bigger picture:
http://driftglass.blogspot.com/2008/03/plus-change.html

No one cares about this woman. She is a political pawn. Please read that blog by a blogger everyone here will agree is NOT part of the Iranian government. He is the one that was detained for going to Israel and conducting an unofficial diplomacy with an enemy entity. (We would be sent to Gitmo under Title 18 2339A-B for even giving a taxi ride to Al Qaeda members unknowingly according to the case law, forget DIPLOMACY!)

Please realize that while Iranians face a humans right issue, even Nobel Peace Prize recipient and other Iranians see the bigger picture, and have asked to let Iranians have the proper chance to reform themselves.

Several Green Opposition Leaders imploded their own movement because it was immediately hijacked from Day 1. We just can't let the Iranians decide their own fate, can we? We have to keep replacing their governments, keep messing with them, rip away the name of the "Persian Gulf", stigmatize them, etc.

ENOUGH.

[Azimof]

05:51 PM on 12/27/2011

bla bla bla bla

[The Mighty Cynic]

10:15 PM on 12/27/2011

that is a good dracula impression :) BLAAA BLAAAAA!

[Satirist1]

11:02 PM on 12/27/2011

"No one cares about this woman. "
Obviously you don't.

[The Mighty Cynic]

11:43 PM on 12/27/2011

She is a murderer. I am entitled to my opinion for capital punishment of people who tie metal wires to the toes of their husbands while they sleep, tie it to light switches, and cause really nasty horrific murder electrocution of him while my gangster, thug lover watched.

I don't know... in Les Miserables, I would say Jean Valjean is less guilty for stealing the bread for his starving children. Wouldn't you? There are ethics that don't go with laws. In this case, I think the Iranians got it right. There haven't been stonings in Iran. You can't come back and show one link to prove it that has Iranians in the evidence speaking Farsi or even looking like Iranians.