Women’s
Forum Against Fundamentalism in Iran
FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Public Statement
CONTACT:
press@wfafi.org
October 8, 2007
Policy and Practice of Stoning Continue to Rise in Iran
Another Woman in Mashad Faces Stoning
BOSTON, MA-
A court in the Iran's second largest city, Mashad, has sentenced to death by
stoning a mother-of-three for having an extra-marital affair, the government's
Daily paper Quds reported September 27, 2007. She is facing imminent execution
by being buried up to her chest and stoned to death.
In June, a woman named Mokarrameh Ebrahimi was scheduled to death by stoning
together with a man named Jafar Kiani with whom she had an 11-year-old child.
They were given stay of execution after increased international pressure.
However, despite Iran's moratorium on execution, Mr. Kiani was stoned to death
Thursday, July 5th in Aghchekand, Qazvin.
Mohammad-Javad Larijani, the mullahs’ Judiciary Chief Advisor and an ideologue
within the clerical regime said, "Stoning is neither torture nor is it an
improper punishment," . Admitting that there is no mention of stoning in "holy
Quran" or in the teachings of the "prophet Mohammad's," Larijani said, "As long
as it is [written] in our laws it would be proper to hand down such a penalty by
the judges…It is obvious that stoning is a lesser sentence in comparison to
hanging since the [victim] stands a chance of staying alive after stoning" , the
state-run news agency ISNA reported September 30, 2007 The Islamic Republic of
Iran's law specifies that the penalty for adultery under Article 83 of the penal
code, called the Law of Hodoud is flogging (100 lashes of the whip) for
unmarried male and female offenders. Married offenders may be punished by
stoning regardless of their gender, but the method laid down for a man involves
his burial up to his waist, and for a woman up to her chest (article 102).
Article 104 states, with reference to the penalty for adultery, that the stones
used should "not be large enough to kill the person by one or two strikes, nor
should they be so small that they could not be defined as stones".
Currently there are 8 other women in Iranian prisons who have been sentenced to
death by the cruel punishment of stoning.
Tehran's fundamentalist regime along with Ahmadinejad must be held responsible
and condemned for the gross violations of Human Rights of the Iranian people.
The United States and European Union focus on the crimes committed against
humanity by Iran's fundamentalist regime. They should stop ignoring the
suffering of the people under the rule of the Mullahs to advance their economic
agendas.
Women's Forum Against Fundamentalism in Iran (WFAFI) calls upon the
international community, human rights organizations and the United Nations to
defend the right of life of these women and stop Tehran's regime from
implementing such brutal, inhumane sentences.
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