Death by stoning sentence may still be lifted

AUTHORITIES reviewing a death by stoning sentence against an Iranian woman convicted of adultery could still halt the punishment, a senior judiciary official said yesterday as Iran struggles to mute an international outcry over the case.

The comments, however, offered no clear evidence that Iran’s judiciary would commute the sentence against Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, who was taken from prison late on Saturday to meet with journalists in another bid by Iran to highlight her purported confession of helping her lover kill her husband.

Ashtiani denied she has been tortured in prison and admitted she was an accomplice to the murder. Security officials were present as she spoke.

Iranian authorities also used her brief appearance to push back against pressure to free two German reporters arrested after trying to interview Ashtiani’s son, who helped ignite the international campaign against the stoning sentence. Ashtiani said she planned to sue the two Germans and others if she was released.

The threats of lawsuits against two Germans was seen a warning to the international activists and media to stay out of the case.

A report by the Fars news agency quoted Malek Ajdar Sharifi, the head of justice department of East Azerbaijan province where Ashtiani is jailed, as saying her case is under review and the stoning sentence could be lifted.

“Everything is possible,” he said, but did not elaborate on whether she could still face death by hanging — by far the most common form of capital punishment in Iran.

Sharifi said there are “some ambiguities on evidence” in the killing of her husband.

Ashtiani was convicted of adultery in 2006 after the murder of her husband and sentenced to death by stoning. In the face of international outrage, the sentence has been suspended and is under review by the Supreme Court.

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