Sakineh Mohamamadi Ashtiani

IRAN: CONFUSION OVER STONING WOMAN

September 27, 2010: Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani has received a death sentence for committing murder and this sentence has precedence over her crime in doing adultery, Iranian National Prosecutor General Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei announced. The prosecutor’s remark means that Ashtiani will not be stoned to death for committing adultery, because she should first be executed for murder.
“According to the court’s ruling, she is convicted of murder and her death sentence has priority over her punishment,” Mohseni-Ejei said. “The issue should not be politicized and the judiciary will not be influenced by the propaganda campaign launched by the Western media,” said Mohseni-Ejei, who also serves as the Judiciary spokesman. But news agency Isna said the stoning sentence had been confirmed, and Sakineh had also been given a10-year jail term for complicity in the murder. Isna had cited Iran's prosecutor general, Gholamhoseyn Mohseni Ezhei, as the source of the reports. "The judicial process has not yet finished and the final judgement will be announced after the end of the process," foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast told reporters. (Sources: AKI, BBC, AFP, 27/09/2010)