Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani

Tuesday, September 7, 2010


Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani

September 7, 2010

by Crystal Huskey



Although Sakineh Ashtiani's case is being widely reported this week, I wanted to analyze the situation myself, even if for no other reason than to understand it more personally.

From the news reports, her story is summed up in a few facts:
Sakineh was sentenced to death for the crime of adultery and murder. The files containing the evidence on her husband's murder are missing. She was originally accused of an "illicit relationship" with two men (which occurred after her husband's death) and sentenced to 99 lashes. It wasn't until one of the men previously mentioned was linked to her husband's murder that she was accused of adultery while married and involvement in the murder. Her two children successfully voiced her story to the world and are lobbying to have her released, or at least not stoned.

None of the details of the murder case are available. She confessed under extreme duress and torture. It is not the crimes themselves (or lack thereof) that are at the center of the controversy, but the method of execution. According to www.apostatesofislam.com:
"In stoning to death, the victims's hands are tied behind their backs and their bodies are put in a cloth sack. Then, this human "package" is buried in a hole, with only the victims heads showing above the ground. If its a woman, she is buried upto her shoulders. This is to give her an seemingly equal (but nonetheless impossible) chance to escape recognizing her lesser physical strength. After the hapless individual has been secured in the hole, people start chanting "Allah hu Akbar" (meaning, God is great), and throw palm sized stones at the head of the victim from a certain distance (a circle is drawn). The stones are thrown until the person dies or until he/she escapes out of the hole and crosses the circle. Escaping is impossible, given that the individual's hands are tied behind their backs and they are buried in a hole upto their necks or shoulders (in the case of males and females respectively). Naturally, the procedure is extremely barbaric and bloody."

The events that have taken place this week have particularly astounded me. The Times of London published a picture of what was presumably Ashtiani without the traditional head dress. The Iranian regime declared that it was indecent for her to expose herself in that way, and subjected her to another 99 lashes. The Times claimed that they received the picture from her former lawyer, Mohammad Mostafaei, who in turn claimed to have received it from Ashtiani's son. There are many questions unanswered here, but I'm sure there is a lot going on behind the scenes that the public does not know about. Mostafaei was reunited with his family in Norway this past Thursday, after being separated from them since fleeing the country. They were previously held as political prisoners in order to place pressure on Mostafaei www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/iran-must-end-harassment-stoning-case-lawyer-2010-07-28).
Many countries and groups have loudly declared their opposition to what is happening to Sakineh, including France, Brazil, and the Vatican. It is not simply a cry against one woman’s inhumane treatment, involving torture, threats, and ultimately a slow and painful death, but the lack of basic human rights being given to prisoners, whether political or criminal. Hopefully this can become a rallying point that will change the ways of the Iranian government and the future of its citizens.

For more information and ways to help Sakineh, visit www.freesakineh.org or http://www.facebook.com/savesakineh
For Amnesty International’s view on stoning in Iran, visit http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/report/campaigning-end-stoning-iran-20080115

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