'Don't Let Them Stone Me in Front of My Son'

KOMPAS.com - The Iranian woman who was sentenced to death by stoning for having an affair has spoken out for the first time, saying she has been singled out for being female.

Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, 43, had her sentence commuted to hanging after international outcry over her treatment. But in an extraordinary twist, Iranian officials have claimed that Mrs Mohammadi Ashtiani was also found guilty of murdering her husband and could still face death by stoning.

Speaking to The Guardian, the 43-year-old said officials are trying to mislead the media in order to kill her in secret.

'I was found guilty of adultery and was acquitted of murder, but the man who actually killed my husband was identified and imprisoned but he is not sentenced to death', she told the newspaper.

'The answer is quite simple, it's because I'm a woman, it's because they think they can do anything to women in this country.'

Mossadegh Kahnemoui, a senior Iranian judicial official, yesterday told the UN's Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination: 'This lady, in addition to double adultery, is also found guilty of conspiracy to murder her husband.'

Mrs Mohammadi Ashtiani thanked campaigners for highlighting her case and pleaded with people to protect her son: 'Don't let them stone me in front of my son', she begged.

She was convicted in May 2006 of having an 'illicit relationship' with two men, according to London-based human rights watchdog Amnesty International.

Amnesty said she originally received 99 lashes under her sentence but was subsequently accused of 'adultery while being married' during the trial of a man accused of murdering her husband.

Mrs Mohammadi Ashtiani also revealed to The Guardian how she did not understand the death by stoning sentence when it was read out in court.

'When the judge handed down my sentence, I even didn't realise I'm supposed to be stoned to death because I didn't know what "rajam" means.

'They asked me to sign my sentence which I did, then I went back to the prison and my cellmates told me that I was going to be stoned to death and I instantly fainted.'

Mrs Mohammadi Ashtiani's interview comes as Mrs Mohammadi Ashtiani's lawyer, who was forced to flee his country following the case, was released from detention in Turkey yesterday.

Mohammed Mostafaei is expected to travel to Norway in the coming days. Mr Mostafaei, who kept a blog about his client's case, fled to Turkey after being questioned then released in Tehran. He was detained because of an undisclosed passport problem.

But the lawyer told The Times that he has been overcome with worry for his wife who has been held in solitary confinement in Tehran's Evin prison for two weeks.

Government and non-governmental bodies have joined together in appealing for her release, saying holding her hostage contravenes her human rights. Mr Mostafaei said he believes his wife is imprisoned in Section 209 of Evin, where political prisoners are routinely tortured and interrogated.

Prisoners are kept in a tiny cell and their food is pushed under the door. Guards do not speak to inmates and they are never allowed out for exercise. The cell's walls are white and lit 24 hours a day to prevent prisoners sleeping and to disorientate them.

'It's what they call "white torture",' Mr Mostafaei told The Times. 'She's an extremely strong woman, but in Section 209 they... create conditions to break down the strongest'.

The Foreign Office and Amnesty International have both demanded the immediate release of Fereshteh Halimi, 33.

'Fereshteh Halimi has not been charged with any crime. If she is being held purely to put pressure on her husband to hand himself in, it is tantamount to hostage-taking, a very serious abuse of human rights,' a spokesman for Amnesty International said.