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Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani (; born 1967) is an Iranian woman convicted of conspiracy to commit murder and adultery. She gained international notoriety for originally being sentenced to
death by stoning Stoning, or lapidation, is a method of capital punishment where a group throws stones at a person until the subject dies from blunt trauma. It has been attested as a form of punishment for grave misdeeds since ancient times. Stoning appears t ...
for her crimes. Her sentence was commuted and she was released in 2014 after serving nine years on
death row Death row, also known as condemned row, is a place in a prison that houses inmates awaiting execution after being convicted of a capital crime and sentenced to death. The term is also used figuratively to describe the state of awaiting executio ...
.


Biography

Ashtiani is an
Iranian Azeri Iranian Azerbaijanis (; ) are the largest ethnic minority of Iran. They are primarily found in and are native to the Iranian Azerbaijan region including provinces of ( East Azerbaijan, Ardabil, Zanjan, West Azerbaijan)Tabriz Tabriz (; ) is a city in the Central District (Tabriz County), Central District of Tabriz County, in the East Azerbaijan province, East Azerbaijan province of northwestern Iran. It serves as capital of the province, the county, and the distric ...
in the
Persian calendar The Iranian calendars or Iranian chronologies (, ) are a succession of calendars created and used for over two millennia in Iran, also known as Persia. One of the longest chronological records in human history, the Iranian calendar has been modi ...
1347 (1967–1968) and grew up in the rural town of
Osku Osku () is a city in the Central District of Osku County, East Azerbaijan province, Iran, serving as capital of both the county and the district. Demographics Population At the time of the 2006 National Census, the city's population was 1 ...
,
East Azerbaijan Province East Azerbaijan province () is one of the 31 provinces of Iran. Its capital is the city of Tabriz. The province is located in Azerbaijan (Iran), Iranian Azerbaijan, bordering Armenia, the Azerbaijan, Republic of Azerbaijan, Ardabil pro ...
,
Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...
. Sakineh worked outside her home for two years as a kindergarten teacher.


Arrest and conviction

Ashtiani was arrested in 2005 on charges of adultery and conspiracy to commit murder of her husband. In 2006, the court sentenced her to death by
stoning Stoning, or lapidation, is a method of capital punishment where a group throws stones at a person until the subject dies from blunt trauma. It has been attested as a form of punishment for grave misdeeds since ancient times. Stoning appears t ...
after she was convicted. An international campaign to overturn her sentence was started by her children, Farideh and Sajjad Qaderzadeh, through a letter about their mother's case which was published by ''Mission Free Iran''. Prominent media sources picked up on the news via interviews with her son, which included information on her
stoning Stoning, or lapidation, is a method of capital punishment where a group throws stones at a person until the subject dies from blunt trauma. It has been attested as a form of punishment for grave misdeeds since ancient times. Stoning appears t ...
sentence. The international publicity generated by Ashtiani's situation led to numerous diplomatic conflicts between Iran's government and the heads of certain western governments. As a result, her execution was stayed indefinitely. Shortly after the international campaign began, various Iranian officials stated that Ashtiani was also guilty of various charges related to the murder of her husband. The range of charges included murder, manslaughter, conspiracy, and complicity. However, major human rights organizations such as
Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...
, some NGOs and her lawyers stated that Ashtiani was acquitted of murder, and that she initially received a 10-year sentence for complicity in murder and "disrupting the public order". It was reduced to five years on appeal. She was convicted twice of adultery in separate trials and sentenced to death by stoning. In December 2011, the Iranian authorities indicated that they intended to go ahead with her execution, but by hanging. However, the hanging was not carried out, and Iranian officials afterwards denied that they intended to execute her.
On 24 July 2012,
Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...
stressed that Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani's fate was still unclear, while her former lawyer Javid Houtan Kiyan languished in jail. In March 2014, Ashtiani was pardoned for good behavior and released from prison.


Legal proceedings


Original proceedings

In 2005, Ebrahim Qaderzadeh, Ashtiani's husband, aged 44, was murdered by electrocution by his cousin, Isa Taheri. Ashtiani allegedly committed
adultery Adultery is extramarital sex that is considered objectionable on social, religious, moral, or legal grounds. Although the sexual activities that constitute adultery vary, as well as the social, religious, and legal consequences, the concept ...
with Isa Taheri, who murdered her husband, as well as a second unknown man. Taheri and Ashtiani were arrested as suspects, and according to some sources, Ashtiani was accused of committing adultery by the wife of one of her late husband's coworkers. On May 15, 2006 Sakineh entered a guilty plea of having had an "illicit relationship outside marriage" with another man (court records show it was not Taheri, but another person). The court handed down a punishment of 99 lashes; her son watched the whipping. In addition, she may have received one year in prison as well. In his trial, Taheri was found guilty of murder and sentenced to death. Under Islamic law, murderers can be forgiven and pay
restitution Restitution and unjust enrichment is the field of law relating to gains-based recovery. In contrast with damages (the law of compensation), restitution is a claim or remedy requiring a defendant to give up benefits wrongfully obtained. Liability ...
(''
diyya ''Diya'' (; : ''diyāt'', ) in Islamic law, is the financial compensation paid to the victim or heirs of a victim in the cases of murder, bodily harm or property damage by mistake. It is an alternative punishment to '' qisas'' (equal retaliation) ...
'') to the victim's family, or the family can demand retribution (''
qisas ''Qisas'' or ''Qiṣāṣ'' () is an Islamic term interpreted to mean "retaliation in kind",Mohamed S. El-Awa (1993), Punishment In Islamic Law, American Trust Publications, "eye for an eye", or retributive justice. ''Qisas'' and ''diyya'' a ...
'') and have the murderer executed. Sajjad Qaderzadeh, Ashtiani's son, forgave Taheri, accepted blood money, and he was sentenced to 10 years in prison. According to some sources, he was later freed and is no longer in prison. In September 2006, Ashtiani's murder case went to trial. She was not found guilty of the actual murder (since she did not physically kill her husband and the murderer was forgiven) but she was given 10 years in prison for complicity in murder and disrupting the public order, equal to Taheri's sentence. Upon appeal, this was later reduced to five years in prison. She was also brought to trial again for adultery. Her son, Sajjad Qaderzadeh, states that he was unaware of this new trial, and as she had been convicted for adultery previously, this new trial was "illegal". However, this trial may have been for adultery committed with Taheri, rather than a "second man", as records from her previous trial seem to indicate. This time, the court sentenced her to death, because of her alleged role in her husband's murder. Ashtiani recanted a previous confession and entered a plea of "not guilty". Out of the five ruling judges, three found her guilty; the other two indicated that although they do not doubt her guilt, since she had been previously convicted of adultery, she should not be punished again. Due to the 3–2 majority vote, she was sentenced to death by
stoning Stoning, or lapidation, is a method of capital punishment where a group throws stones at a person until the subject dies from blunt trauma. It has been attested as a form of punishment for grave misdeeds since ancient times. Stoning appears t ...
for adultery. Ashtiani may have had difficulty understanding the case because she speaks Azeri and not
Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
. Malek Ejdar Sharifi, head of East Azerbaijan Province's judiciary said, "She was sentenced to
capital punishment Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence (law), sentence ordering that an offender b ...
... for committing murder, manslaughter and adultery." However, according to advocacy group Mission Free Iran, this is contrary to the documentation on Ashtiani's case. Iran's Supreme Court confirmed her death sentence in 2007. Her appeal was denied, as was her request for clemency by the "Amnesty and Pardons Commission" of Iran.


Further developments

In mid-2010, Ashtiani became the subject of an international campaign, which may have prompted renewed developments in her case. The Press Section of the Iranian Embassy in London issued the following statement on July 8, 2010:
"Considering the statements made by the Foreign Office Minister
Alistair Burt Alistair James Hendrie Burt (born 25 May 1955) is a Conservative British politician who served as Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for North East Bedfordshire from 2001 until 2019. He was previously MP for his nat ...
on an Iranian national, Mrs Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, and her execution, hereby this mission denies the false news aired in this respect and notifies the Ministry that according to information from the relevant judicial authorities in Iran, she will not be executed by stoning punishment."
By July 9, 2010, the Iranian government banned reporters in Iran from reporting on any details of the case. One of her lawyers, Mohammed Mostafaei, fled the country when he was charged with "financial fraud". Mostafaei stated that he was being harassed for defending his client, Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, as well as other clients. Mostafaei sought
asylum Asylum may refer to: Types of asylum * Asylum (antiquity), places of refuge in ancient Greece and Rome * Benevolent asylum, a 19th-century Australian institution for housing the destitute * Cities of Refuge, places of refuge in ancient Judea * ...
internationally, first in
Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...
, and then
Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...
, where he was reunited with his family on September 2, 2010. On August 4, 2010, the Iranian authorities told Ashtiani's new lawyer, Houtan Kian, that she faced death by
hanging Hanging is killing a person by suspending them from the neck with a noose or ligature strangulation, ligature. Hanging has been a standard method of capital punishment since the Middle Ages, and has been the primary execution method in numerou ...
. On the same day,
Tehran Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...
's High Court rejected a reopening of the trial and instead considered the Tabriz prosecutor's demand to execute Ashtiani. Her case was subsequently transferred to the deputy prosecutor-general
Saeed Mortazavi Saeed Mortazavi (, born 26 November 1967) is an Iranian conservative politician, former judge and former prosecutor. He was the prosecutor of the Islamic Revolutionary Court, and Prosecutor General of Tehran, a position he held from 2003 to 2009 ...
. Ashtiani's son was told that the file on his father's murder case had been lost. Her son stated, "they are lying about the charges against my mother. She was
acquitted In common law jurisdictions, an acquittal means that the criminal prosecution has failed to prove that the accused is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of the charge presented. It certifies that the accused is free from the charge of an o ...
of murdering my father but now the government is building up their own story against her." Her son's statement was contradicted by numerous Iranian news accounts describing her as being convicted of both complicity in murder and adultery, although those reports may not be accurate. On August 12, 2010, Ashtiani was televised from Tabriz prison on an Iranian state-run television program which showed her confessing in native
Azerbaijani language Azerbaijani ( ; , , ) or Azeri ( ), also referred to as Azerbaijani Turkic or Azerbaijani Turkish (, , ), is a Turkic languages, Turkic language from the Oghuz languages, Oghuz sub-branch. It is spoken primarily by the Azerbaijanis, Azerbaij ...
to adultery and involvement with the murder of her husband once again. Her lawyer alleged she had been
torture Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons including corporal punishment, punishment, forced confession, extracting a confession, interrogational torture, interrogation for information, or intimid ...
d for two days prior to the interview. On August 28, Ashtiani was given 24-hour notice that she was to be hanged at dawn the next day. She wrote her last will and testament just before the call to morning prayer at 4:00 AM local time, when she expected to be led to the gallows at Tabriz Prison. However, the sentence was stayed. It may have been a mock execution.


Suspension of the stoning sentence

On September 8, 2010,
Ramin Mehmanparast Ramin Mehmanparast () is an Iranian diplomat, the former spokesman of the Iranian foreign ministry and the former ambassador to Poland and Lithuania. He was the deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, the head of the "Center for Public Diplomacy & Me ...
, a spokesman for Iran's Foreign Ministry, confirmed that the government had suspended the stoning sentence, pending a review of her husband's murder case. Mehmanparast added that she was guilty of both adultery and murder and that her case was undeserving of the international attention it has drawn. He said that releasing murderers should not be made into a human rights issue and called on countries criticizing Iran to release all their murderers as well. According to the human rights organization
Iran Human Rights Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO) (Persian: سازمان حقوق بشر ایران) is a non-profit international non-governmental organization focused on human rights in Iran. Founded in 2005, it is a non-partisan and politically independent organisat ...
, Ashtiani remained in danger of capital punishment by hanging. Iran Human Rights also expressed concerns over Mehmanparast's statement about "Sakineh's murder charge being investigated for the final verdict". Commenting on this statement, the spokesperson of
Iran Human Rights Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO) (Persian: سازمان حقوق بشر ایران) is a non-profit international non-governmental organization focused on human rights in Iran. Founded in 2005, it is a non-partisan and politically independent organisat ...
, Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, says: "The fact that the authorities are mentioning murder charges now could mean that Ashtiani is in danger of being sentenced to death for murder". Her lawyer, Houtan Kian, was arrested in October 2010. Her son was also arrested in October 2010, after speaking to two German reporters who had entered the country on tourist visas. He was released on $40,000 bail in December. On January 1, 2011, he was shown on television admitting he did not doubt his mother was guilty, but urged Iranian authorities to let her live. He also said it was unfair that Isa Taheri was free. But
Press TV Press TV (stylised as PRESSTV) is an Iranian state-owned news media organisation, owned by Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), that broadcasts in the English and French languages. The 24-hour channel, which has headquarters in Tehra ...
reports that, according to the Human Rights Headquarters of the Iranian Judiciary, the deceased husband's "next of kin waived their right to retribution"; as a consequence, Taheri has been handed down a 10-year discretionary jail term.


International campaign

Ashtiani's two children began a campaign to overturn their mother's conviction. In June 2010, they wrote a letter to the world asking for help to save their mother, which was first published on June 26, 2010, by Mission Free Iran's International Committee against Stoning. The letter brought widespread attention in 2010 as a result of grassroots campaigning through social networking sites that led to the letter's being passed along to mainstream mass media. During July 2010, protests occurred in Rome,
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
and
Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
, among other cities. Calls to stop her execution came from leading human rights groups
Avaaz Avaaz is a US-based nonprofit organization launched in 2007 that promotes global activism on issues such as climate change, human rights, animal rights, corruption, poverty, and conflict. The word ''avaaz'' means 'voice' in several Asian and E ...
,
Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...
and
Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Headquartered in New York City, the group investigates and reports on issues including War crime, war crimes, crim ...
as well as from several high-profile celebrities.< A petition was created in support of her release, and was signed by several additional prominent activists. On July 31, 2010, the president of
Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...
,
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (; born Luiz Inácio da Silva; 27 October 1945), known Mononym, mononymously as Lula, is a Brazilian politician, trade unionist and former metalworker who has served as the 39th president of Brazil since 2023. A mem ...
, said he would ask the Iranian president,
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (born Mahmoud Sabbaghian on 28 October 1956) is an Iranian Iranian principlists, principlist and Iranian nationalism, nationalist politician who served as the sixth president of Iran from 2005 to 2013. He is currently a mem ...
, to send Mrs. Ashtiani to Brazil, where she would be granted asylum. According to the Brazilian Foreign Ministry, the Brazilian ambassador in Tehran was directly instructed to communicate their asylum proposal to the Iranian government. Iranian officials responded by suggesting that Lula had ''"not received enough information about the case"''. U.S. Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...
mentioned Mrs. Ashtiani in a declaration on August 10, 2010, urging Iran to respect the fundamental freedoms of its citizens. In late August 2010, the Iranian newspaper ''
Kayhan ''Kayhan'' () is a Persian-language newspaper published in Tehran, Iran. It is considered "the most conservative and hard-line Iranian newspaper." Hossein Shariatmadari is the editor-in-chief of ''Kayhan''. According to the report of the ' ...
'' called
Carla Bruni-Sarkozy Carla Bruni-Sarközy de Nagy-Bocsa (born Carla Gilberta Bruni Tedeschi; ; 23 December 1967) is an Italian and French singer, songwriter and fashion model who served as the List of spouses or partners of the president of France, first lady of Fran ...
, the First Lady of France, a "prostitute" who "deserved death" after she condemned the stoning sentence against Mrs. Ashtiani. Iranian officials condemned this statement and Ahmadinejad condemned ''Kayhan's'' comments toward Mrs. Bruni-Sarkozy's as a "crime" and "against Islam" . A resolution by the
European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...
on September 8, 2010, declared that "a sentence of death by stoning can never be justified." The vote passed by a margin of 658–1, the sole vote against having been made in error and later rectified, according to the
Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...
. On September 29, 2010, EveryOne Group, a
human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...
organisation based in Italy, appealed to the Iranian Authorities for an act of compassion for Mrs. Ashtiani. The international human rights campaign for her release, however, was criticized for being sexist because a study showed that this campaign totally left her male accomplice to his fate despite the fact that both of them were involved in the same crime and received the same verdict.


2014 release

In March 2014, Mohammad-Javad Larijani, the Islamic regime's Secretary General for Human Rights, announced that Sakineh Ashtiani had been pardoned, due to good behaviour. She had spent nine years on death row. Larijani stated that the media attention surrounding her sentence to death by stoning was "propaganda" and that the death sentence she had initially received was for the murder of her husband and not the adultery.


See also

* Marcus Hellwig *
Mina Ahadi Mina Ahadi (, born 1956) is an Iranian-Austrian political activist. She is a member of the Central Committee and Politburo of the Worker-communist Party of Iran. Advocacy Mina Ahadi campaigns for citizens' rights and for legal systems based upo ...
*
Marina Nemat Marina Nemat (, ; born 22 April 1965) is the author of two memoirs about her life growing up in Iran, serving time in Evin Prison for speaking out against the Iranian government, escaping a death sentence and finally fleeing Iran to go and liv ...
*
Capital punishment in Iran Capital punishment is a legal penalty in Iran. The list of crimes punishable by death includes murder; rape; child molestation; homosexuality; drug trafficking; armed robbery; kidnapping; terrorism; burglary; incest; fornication; adultery; sod ...
* The Stoning of Soraya M. (film) *
Rajm In Islam, stoning ()E. Ann Black, Hossein Esmaeili and Nadirsyah Hosen (2014), Modern Perspectives on Islamic Law, , pp. 222-223Rudolph Peters, Crime and Punishment in Islamic Law, Cambridge University Press, , pp. 37 is the '' Hudud'' punishme ...


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mohammadi Ashtiani, Sakineh 1967 births Human rights abuses in Iran Living people Iranian prisoners sentenced to death People convicted of adultery Women's rights in Iran Prisoners sentenced to death by Iran Sexual fidelity People from East Azerbaijan province People from Tabriz Violence against women in Iran