Agitation autour de l’affaire Sakineh
LE TEMPS: Une annulation de la lapidation de l’Iranienne condamnée à mort pour adultère est «possible», selon un responsable régional de la justice ce dimanche, après une série de déclarations plus ou moins mises en scène qui ont eu lieu tout ce week-end

De grandes manoeuvres semblent avoir commencé autour de cette Iranienne condamnée à la lapidation pour adultère, et dont le sort fait l’objet d’une forte mobilisation notamment en Occident depuis cet été. La peine de mort de Sakineh Mohammadi-Ashtiani pourrait en effet être annulée, du moins si on en croit un haut responsable de la Justice iranienne, le chef de la Justice de la province d’Azerbaïdjan oriental, Malek Ajdar Sharifi, qui a déclaré ce di manche [sic] que «tout était possible». >>> LT / AFP | Dimanche 02 Janvier 2011

Iran Airs New Confession by Woman in Stoning Case
FOX NEWS: TEHRAN, IRAN – An Iranian woman sentenced to death by stoning for adultery confessed to helping a man kill her husband and re-enacted the alleged crime in an interview broadcast Friday by Iranian state television — an apparent effort by the government to deflect international criticism over the case.

It was the fourth time Sakineh Mohammedi Ashtiani has been shown on TV as Tehran has faced an international outcry over the announcement that she would be stoned to death, the latest source of friction between Iran and the West.

Authorities announced her conviction in the murder case only after the uproar over the stoning sentence erupted last summer, and her lawyer — who has since been arrested — said she was never formally put on trial for the killing and was tortured into confessing. Iranian authorities could use the murder charge to justify executing Ashtiani by hanging instead of stoning.

In the new footage broadcast on English-language Press TV, the 43-year-old mother of two was brought from the prison to her home outside the city of Tabriz in northwestern Iran where she was shown acting out the alleged December 2005 killing, complete with an actor portraying her husband.

Ashtiani, dressed in black with a beige scarf covering her hair, described how she began an affair with another man identified as Isa Taheri. She said she gave her husband an injection that rendered him unconscious, then Taheri came to her house and electrocuted him.

Amnesty International criticized the broadcast, which was announced by Press TV earlier Friday, saying it violated international standards for a fair trial by having Ashtiani implicate herself in a crime. >>> Associated Press | Friday, December 10, 2010

THE TIMES: Iran ‘freed Ashtiani to frame case against her’ >>> Martin Fletcher, Hugh Tomlinson | Saturday, December 11, 2010 (£)

The Forced Interview with Sakineh and Sajad, Hootan and Two German Journalists

THE TIMES: Blurred and dubbed: the Ashtiani TV trial is a sham to fool Iranians >>> Hugh Tomlinson | Wednesday, November 17, 2010 (Behind a paywall: £)

Iran Charges Two German Journalists With Spying Over Ashtiani Case
THE GUARDIAN: Pair 'confess' on state TV after interviewing son of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, the woman sentenced to death by stoning

Two German journalists have been charged with spying against Iran after interviewing the family of the woman sentenced to death by stoning, an Iranian judicial official said today.

The two women, who were identified only as a reporter and a photographer, were arrested in the city of Tabriz last month after interviewing the son of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani.

Malekajdar Sharifi, the head of the judiciary in East Azerbaijan province, said today that spying charges have been formally lodged against them.

The semi-official Fars News Agency quoted him as saying: "The espionage charge for the two German citizens who came to Iran to stage propaganda and spying has been approved."

According to Iran's English-language broadcaster, Press TV, he added: "These two women are certainly spies and their case will be addressed [in a court of law]." >>> Matthew Weaver and agencies | Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Woman Sentenced to Death by Stoning Confesses 'Sin of Adultery' to Iran TV
THE GUARDIAN: Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani also blamed activist Mina Ahadi for spreading story around world

An image of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani held during a support rally in Rome. Photograph: The Guardian

Iranian state TV broadcast a statement last night by the woman sentenced to death by stoning for adultery, in which she described herself as a "sinner".

Appearing on TV for the third time since her case caught the world's attention, Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, 43, also accused Mina Ahadi, an activist of the German-based International Committee Against Stoning (Icas), of spreading her story around the world.

The report also broadcast purported statements by two men whose faces were blurred. State TV identified them as Ashtiani's son, Sajjad Qaderzadeh, 22, and her lawyer, Houtan Kian, both of whom were arrested last month. >>> Saeed Kamali Dehghan | Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Iran Stoning Woman Calls Herself a 'Sinner' on State TV
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Iranian state television has broadcast footage of a purported statement by an Iranian woman sentenced to death by stoning for adultery in which she calls herself a "sinner". >>> | Monday, November 15, 2010

Iran : La justice réexamine d'abord l'accusation de meurtre visant Sakineh
Sakineh, âgée de 43 ans, a été condamnée à mort pour adultère et pour son implication dans le meurtre de son mari. Photo : Le Point
LE POINT: L'examen de l'accusation de meurtre visant Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani passe avant celui des adultères, pour lesquels l'Iranienne a été condamnée à la lapidation, et la justice va avoir besoin de plus de temps pour réexaminer l'affaire, selon le procureur général à Téhéran. "Deux accusations et condamnations visent Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, sans nul doute l'accusation de meurtre passe avant les autres accusations et la justice a mis à l'ordre du jour d'abord celle-ci (meurtre)", a déclaré Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejeie, cité mercredi soir par l'agence officielle Irna. "L'énoncé d'une peine définitive requiert plus de temps et d'investigations", a-t-il ajouté. >>> Source AFP | Jeudi 11 Novembre 2010

Affaire Sakineh – L'Iran rassure la France
Le ministre des Affaires étrangères iranien Manouchehr Mottaki a assuré à Bernard Kouchner que les informations sur l'éventuelle exécution de l'Iranienne Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani "ne correspondaient pas à la réalité" (ici les deux hommes en 2009 à Paris). Photo : Le Point
LE POINT: Le verdict final dans l'affaire Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani n'a pas été prononcé par la justice iranienne, selon le chef de la diplomatie iranienne Manouchehr Mottaki, a affirmé mercredi le ministre des Affaires étrangères, Bernard Kouchner. Lors d'un entretien téléphonique mercredi, "Manouchehr Mottaki m'a affirmé que le verdict final dans l'affaire concernant Sakineh Ashtiani n'avait pas été prononcé par la justice iranienne, et que les informations concernant son éventuelle exécution ne correspondaient pas à la réalité", a déclaré le ministre dans un communiqué. >>> Le Point | Mercredi 03 Novembre 2010

Iranian Woman Who Faced Death by Stoning 'Will Be Hanged Tomorrow'
MAIL ONLINE: An Iranian woman who faced being stoned to death will hang tomorrow, a human rights group has claimed.

The International Committee Against Stoning said that the authorities had given the go-ahead for the execution of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani.

Her fate has provoked international outcry after she was sentenced to death by stoning for committing adultery.

Under huge pressure, Tehran eventually ruled that the 43-year-old mother-of-two would be hanged instead.

Ashtiani has been on death row ever since.

'The authorities in Tehran have given the go-ahead to Tabriz prison for the execution of Iran stoning case Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani,' the human rights group said on its website.

'It has been reported that she is to be executed this Wednesday, 3 November.' >>> Daily Mail Reporter | Tuesday, November 02, 2010

Woman Sentenced to Death by Stoning Could Now Be Hanged Instead
'Save Sakineh' posters in Rome. There has been worldwide condemnation of Iran's death sentence for the 43-year-old mother-of-two. Photograph: The Independent
THE INDEPENDENT: Confusion surrounded the fate of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani yesterday, the Iranian woman sentenced to death by stoning for adultery, who now faces execution by hanging for the alleged murder of her husband, according to some reports.

The government says no final decision has been taken in a case that has generated outrage around the world, as the adultery and murder issues are still before the courts. A final judgement would be announced only when that process is completed, Ramin Mehmanparast, the foreign ministry spokesman, told reporters in Tehran.

But he indicated that the focus was shifting to a charge of murder, and seemed to suggest that Ms Ashtiani's guilt was not in doubt. "Right now, what we are pursuing is the topic of murder, and her participation in murder is confirmed," he said. >>> Rupert Cornwell in Washington | Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Sakineh, "notre soeur à tous" (Fillon)
LE FIGARO: François Fillon a déclaré ce soir sur France 2 que l'iranienne Sakineh Mohammadi-Ashtiani, condamnée à mort par lapidation dans son pays, était "notre soeur à tous", en estimant que son exécution mettrait l'Iran "au ban des nations".



"Je dois dire qu'on est tous révoltés par cette espèce d'acte de barbarie dont est menacée Sakineh", a déclaré le premier ministre, interrogé sur le cas de l'Iranienne dans l'émission "A vous de juger". "Le président de la République est intervenu personnellement. Il a dit que nous étions désormais responsables de sa vie, responsables de son sort. C'est notre soeur à tous parce que c'est une femme qui est menacée par la pire des barbaries", a-t-il poursuivi. >>> AFP | Jeudi 09 Septembre 2010

Iran Suspends Stoning of Woman
THE TELEGRAPH: Iran has suspended the execution by stoning of a woman convicted of adultery, the Foreign Ministry has confirmed, after weeks of condemnation from around the world.

The announcement came a day after European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso called the stoning sentence against Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani "barbaric beyond words", the latest in a string of criticisms by foreign powers.

"The verdict regarding the extramarital affairs has stopped and it's being reviewed," Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast told Iran's state-run English-language Press TV.

Ashtiani was convicted of adultery – a capital crime in the Islamic Republic – in 2006. She also has been charged with involvement in her husband's murder. >>> | Wednesday, September 08, 2010

Report: 99 Lashes for Iranian Woman [Sakineh] on Death Row
FOX NEWS: Lawyer: Woman could be stoned soon

Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani va être fouettée, selon son fils
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: TEHERAN | Le fils de Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, une Iranienne condamnée à la lapidation pour adultère, a annoncé lundi que les autorités iraniennes lui avaient infligé une nouvelle peine, 99 coups de fouet, après la publication dans un journal britannique d’une femme non voilée et présentée par erreur comme sa mère. >>> AP | Lundi 06 Septembre 2010

La lapidation de Sakineh pourrait avoir lieu après le Ramadan
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: IRAN | Le fils de l'Iranienne Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, condamnée à mort par lapidation, a déclaré lundi craindre l'exécution de la sentence après la fin du Ramadan.

Cette possibilité a été évoquée lors d'une conversation téléphonique devant la presse avec l'écrivain français Bernard-Henri Lévy. Le Ramadan doit s'achever cette année autour du 10 septembre.

Sajjad Mohammadi Ashtiani, 22 ans, a déclaré ne plus avoir de nouvelles de sa mère depuis que ses "aveux", que sa famille et ses avocats considèrent comme forcés, avaient été diffusés par la télévision iranienne le 11 août. "Les visites hebdomadaires sont interdites", a-t-il dit. >>> AFP | Lundi 06 Septembre 2010

THE GLOBE AND MAIL: Iranian woman could be executed after Ramadan, lawyer says: Confirmed Iranian woman sentenced to stoning was lashed 99 times last week for photo in British Newspaper mistakenly identified as her >>> Nasser Karimi, Tehran, Iran, The Associated Press | Monday, September 06, 2010

Catherine Deneuve Critical of Carla Bruni's Support for Iranian Woman
THE TELEGRAPH: An appeal by Carla Bruni-Sarkozy on behalf of an Iranian woman facing death by stoning for alleged adultery was counterproductive, according to Catherine Deneuve.

The spat between one of France's most famous actresses and its first lady came as the Vatican announced it was interceding with Tehran for the life of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, a 43-year-old mother of two.

Miss Deneuve, 66, star of Belle de Jour, a film about a housewife secretly working as a prostitute, said the first lady's intervention allowed Iranian hardliners to seize on her past to taint the world campaign for Mrs Ashtiani's release.

Mrs Bruni-Sarkozy signed an open letter in support of Mrs Ashtiani.

That prompted an Iranian newspaper to label her a "marriage wrecking prostitute" last week because of her previous affairs with high-profile celebrities who already had partners.

"When you are a famous person you need to be more cautious when you lend your support to causes – with her past she should have been more careful. It can be a double-edged sword," Miss Deneuve said. >>> Nick Pisa in Rome | Sunday, September 05, 2010

Vatican: Stoning in Iran Adultery Case 'Brutal'
THE NEW YORK TIMES: VATICAN CITY (AP) -- The Vatican on Sunday raised the possibility of using behind-the-scenes diplomacy to try to spare the life of an Iranian widow sentenced to be stoned for adultery.

In its first public statement on the case, which has attracted worldwide attention, the Vatican also decried stoning as a particularly ''brutal'' form of capital punishment.

Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi said the Catholic church opposes the death penalty in general.

Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani was convicted in 2006 of adultery. In July, Iranian authorities said they would not carry out the stoning sentence for the time being, but the mother of two could still face execution by hanging for adultery and other offenses.

Her son, Sajad, told the Italian news agency Adnkronos that he was appealing to Pope Benedict XVI and to Italy to work to stop the execution.

Lombardi told The Associated Press that no formal appeal had reached the Vatican, but hinted that Vatican's diplomacy might be employed to try to save Ashtiani. >>> The Associated Press | Sunday, September 05, 2010

Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani to Be Lashed Over Newspaper Photograph
THE GUARDIAN: Iranian woman facing death for adultery to be whipped despite Times apologising for using picture of another person

Activists hold a solidarity rally for Sakineh Mohamadi Ashtiani who was convicted of committing adultery and sentenced to being stoned to death. Photograph: The Guardian
Iran has reportedly sentenced Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani – the 43-year-old Iranian woman who faces execution after being convicted of adultery – to 99 lashes in prison for "spreading corruption and indecency" after allowing an unveiled picture of herself to be published in a British newspaper.

The claim, which could not be confirmed, comes from her family and a lawyer representing Mohammadi Ashtiani, based on reports from those who have recently left the prison in Tabriz where she has been held for the last four years.

The latest charges against Mohammadi Ashtiani – if confirmed – would appear to suggest that the Iranian authorities have been stung by the international outcry her case has attracted through the campaign of her family and supporters in the media, and could be read as a warning that it is Sakineh who could suffer from the protests.

What has made the latest charges against her even more extraordinary is the fact that the unveiled photograph in question, published by the Times newspaper on 28 August, was not actually of Sakineh but of another woman, for which the paper has since apologised.

In reality, the woman pictured was Susan Hejrat, an Iranian political activist living in Sweden whose photograph had been published on a website along with an article she had written about Sakineh's case, perhaps causing the confusion. In its apology, published on Friday, the Times said that the photograph had been obtained from Mohammad Mostafaei, one of Sakineh's lawyers, who had claimed that he received the picture from her son, Sajad – which he has denied.

Instead, in an open letter today, Sajad Ghaderzadeh accused the Iranian authorities of using the mistaken picture as "an excuse to increase their harassment of our mother".

He added: "My mother has been called in to see the judge in charge of prison misdemeanours, and he has sentenced our helpless mother to 99 lashes on false charges of spreading corruption and indecency by disseminating this picture of a woman presumed to be her [Sakineh] without hijab." >>> Saeed Kamali Dehghan and Peter Beaumont | Saturday, September 04, 2010

leJDD.fr: Nouveau châtiment pour Sakineh : Toujours menacée d’exécution, la mère de famille iranienne a été condamnée à 99 coups de fouet. >>>Karen Lajon - Le Journal du Dimanche | Dimanche 05 Septembre 2010

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad May End Up as Genghis Khan with a Nuclear Bomb
THE TELEGRAPH: Iran will not be shamed into abandoning stoning, or its nuclear ambitions, says Alasdair Palmer.

Joseph Stalin was once described as "Genghis Khan with a telephone". President Ahmadinejad may soon be Genghis Khan with a nuclear bomb. Admittedly, Ahmadinejad hasn't yet committed mass murder on that scale, although when he promised to "wipe Israel off the map", he showed that he would – if only he could. And he may treat his own people slightly better than Genghis Khan treated his. But as Dr Johnson said, "there is no settling orders of precedence between a louse and a flea".

Ahmadinejad has imprisoned thousands for protesting against the brutality, incompetence and illegitimacy of his rule; he has condoned the imposition of the death penalty for any Muslim who converts to another faith; and he supports punishing adultery by stoning those involved to death.

There has been a global campaign to persuade Iran to end stoning, a disgustingly barbaric punishment which inflicts pain of the same order as impaling, Genghis Khan's favourite method of execution, and may take even longer to cause death. It centres on the case of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, a 44-year-old mother and widow who was convicted of adultery in 2006 and punished with 99 lashes. She has been in prison ever since, as the judges decided that 99 lashes wasn't a severe enough sentence for the crime of loving someone who isn't your spouse: she deserved to be stoned to death. Continue reading and comment >>> Alasdair Palmer | Saturday, September 04, 2010

Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani Subjected to Mock Execution
THE GUARDIAN: Her son Sajad says she was told she would be hanged at dawn on Sunday and visits by her family and lawyer have been denied

Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, the Iranian woman sentenced to death by stoning, was told on Saturday that she was to be hanged at dawn on Sunday, but the sentence was not carried out, it emerged tonight.

Mohammadi Ashtiani wrote her will and embraced her cellmates in Tabriz prison just before the call to morning prayer, when she expected to be led to the gallows, her son Sajad told the Guardian.

"Pressure from the international community has so far stopped them from carrying out the sentence but they're killing her every day by any means possible," he said.

The mock execution came days after prison authorities denied family and legal visits to Mohammadi Ashtiani. Her children were told she was unwilling to meet them while she was told, also falsely, that no one had come to visit her. >>> Saeed Kamali Dehghan and Ian Black | Tuesday, August 31, 2010

How Do We Convince Iran That Stoning Is Barbaric?
THE GLOBE AND MAIL: Tehran’s legal codes are studded with inconsistencies and vagaries that make due process virtually impossible

The harrowing case of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani – a mother of two sentenced to stoning by an Iranian court for adultery – has rightfully drawn the world’s attention to Iran’s draconian penal code, which reserves its cruellest punishments for women. The practice of stoning in particular is so abhorrent that even political allies such as Brazil have been roused to action. President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has offered Ms. Ashtiani asylum, but a foreign leader can have no direct bearing on a domestic legal proceeding. The Brazilian intervention, however, sends a powerful message to the Islamic Republic: Its human-rights record can never be divorced from its nuclear diplomacy.

Before the 1979 Islamic revolution, back in the years when I worked as a judge in Iran, consensual sexual relations between adults did not figure in the country’s criminal code. The revolution enacted a version of Islamic law extraordinarily harsh even by the standards of the Islamic world, making extramarital sex a crime. The punishment for a single man or woman guilty of sex outside marriage became 100 lashes; under Article 86, the punishment for a married person became death by stoning.

On the face of things, stoning is not a gendered punishment, for the law stipulates that adulterous men face the same brutal end. But because Iranian law permits polygamy, it effectively offers men an escape route: They are able to claim that their adulterous relationship was, in fact, a temporary marriage (Iranian law recognizes “marriages” of even a few hours duration between men and single women). Men typically exploit this escape clause, and are rarely sentenced to stoning. But married women accused of adultery have no access to such reprieve.

The barbarity of stoning aside, Iran’s legal codes are studded with inconsistencies and vagaries that make due process virtually impossible. The penal code notes that, if a man or woman is denied sexual access to a spouse due to travel or other prolonged separation, 100 lashes suffice as punishment for adultery, but it does not specify the duration of acceptable separation. Stoning can also be reduced to lashes when a married woman has sex with a minor (Iranian law considers the age of maturation for girls 9, and for boys 15). Read on and comment >>> Shirin Ebadi | Thursday, August 05, 2010

Shirin Ebadi is an Iranian human-rights activist and Nobel laureate.

Italians Attack Muammar Gaddafi Over Islam Comments
THE TELEGRAPH: Italians have reacted with indignation after Muammar Gaddafi lectured 200 young actresses and models on the superiority of Islam, a day after saying that Europeans should all become Muslim.

Young women for a meeting with Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in Rome. Photograph: The Telegraph
Silvio Berlusconi’s increasingly close relationship with Col Gaddafi is becoming a source of embarrassment for the Italian prime minister, according to opposition MPs and even members of the government.

On Monday, the Libyan leader recruited the women through a modelling agency to join him and Mr Berlusconi, in viewing a photography exhibition at a Rome cultural institute which traced historical links between the two countries.

Telling them that Islam was the “ultimate religion”, Gaddafi insisted that “if you want to believe in a single faith then it must be that of Mohammed,” according to one of the women who sat through the lecture. >>> Nick Squires in Rome | Monday, August 30, 2010

LE FIGARO: Colère en Italie après un nouveau show de Kadhafi: En visite officielle à Rome, le dirigeant libyen a plaidé pour que l'Islam devienne «la religion de toute l'Europe». >>> Par Olfa Khamira | Lundi 30 Août 2010

About Gaddafi’s conversion party >>>

“Italy has become the Disneyland of Gaddafi and his senile vanities.” – Gianfranco Fini [Source: Mail Online]

I guess that the Italians have finally woken up, as the rest of the West needs to do, and have told Gaddafi to stick his benighted religion – Islam – where the sun don’t shine. We sane Westerners are getting sick to death of listening to the crap espoused about that bloody awful faith by its adherents. It’s a faith for mentally challenged people. Witness the possible stoning to death of that poor woman in Iran, Sakineh. Who, in his right mind, could worship a god who calls for such an innocent woman to be stoned to death? Even if she had committed adultery, which is very questionable, so bloody what? She wouldn’t be the only woman in the world to have done so. Let her Maker be her judge! Who gave these bloody idiots the right to judge others?

And by the way, if Obama really is a Muslim, as I suspect he is, then he is mentally challenged too. – © Mark