Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani 'freed' after outcry over stoning sentence

[Derechos]

Source: Guardian

Jubilant campaigners have claimed victory in the case of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, the woman whose sentence of death by stoning for adultery triggered an international outcry.

Images from state-run Press TV showed her meeting her son Sajjad at home in Osku in northwestern Iran, boosting supporters' hopes that she had been released.

The move came just weeks after Iran signalled for the first time that it might spare the life of Mohammadi Ashtiani, 43, a mother of two who has been in Tabriz prison since 2006 and faced execution by stoning for "having an illicit relationship outside marriage."


Her release is a triumph for an intensive international campaign launched by her son Sajad Ghaderzadeh and first reported by the Guardian in early July. Sajad, her lawyer Houtan Kian and two German journalists who were arrested after trying to interview her have also been freed.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/09/sakineh-mohammadi-ashtiani-freed-iran-stoning

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/09/sakineh-mohammadi-ashtiani-freed-iran-stoning

[Voice for Peace]

1. wonderful news nt

[no limit]

2. Great news, she should flee that country asap

[struggle4progress]

3. Iran frees stoning woman: German campaign group

... "We have got news from Iran that they are free," Mina Ahadi, spokeswoman for the Anti-Stoning Committee, told AFP.

"We are waiting for another confirmation: apparently there will be a programme this evening on (Iranian) television and then we will be 100 percent sure."

There was no immediate confirmation from Tehran. A spokesman from the German foreign ministry also said: "We cannot confirm the news." ...

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hNo24NfiW4yd_w-_EX7kyFsbj30A?docId=CNG.5d466a6578566e3032488678e79f321f.401

[oberliner]

4. Very good news if true

I wonder what is next for her.

[CJvR]

5. Im surprised.

I hadn't thought Amadjihadii & goons were capable of this level of sanity.

[d_b]

6. finally some good news

:toast:

[indimuse]

7. WOW! This is GREAT news!

knr!

[shellgame26]

8. YAY!

I guess the pressure from the international outrage worked. Hope they don't decide to change their minds.

[maxsolomon]

9. probably planned all along to back off and demonstrate "mercy"

the mullahs are crafty. as long as they're funded by oil money, they'll keep this shit up.

[snagglepuss]

10. Fantastic news but she isn't safe unless she and her kids leave Iran.

[burnsei sensei]

11. Exactly. I want the other shoe to drop, and I want it fast.

She needs to get the hell out of the Middle East and into the West.
Preferably the Americas.

[muriel_volestrangler]

13. Indeed - The Guardian has updated that page:

Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani 'at home' pictures trigger confusion over her fate

Woman sentenced to death by stoning in Iran is pictured at home with her son – but she may have been filming a confession

Confusion surrounded the fate of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, the woman whose sentence of death by stoning for adultery triggered an international outcry, after photographs of her meeting her son at home were released by Iran's English channel television tonight.

Pictures from state-run Press TV showed her meeting Sajjad at home in Osku in northwestern Iran, boosting supporters' hopes that she had been released.

But footage of Ashtiani broadcast by the station later raised questions about whether she had actually been released from prison, or whether Iranian authorities had merely taken her to her home to collect evidence against her and film a confession.

In a short clip she is seen to say: "We planned to kill my husband."
...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/09/sakineh-mohammadi-ashtiani-freed-iran-stoning

[snagglepuss]

15. That doesn't sound good at all:(

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

12. I'd like to think Brazil's pressure had something to do with this.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/aug/01/iran-stoning-woman-brazil

[cali]

14. wonderful news.

[oberliner]

16. Iran airs new confession by woman in stoning case

TEHRAN, Iran – An Iranian woman sentenced to death by stoning for adultery confessed to helping a man kill her husband and re-enacted the alleged crime in an interview broadcast Friday by Iranian state television — an apparent effort by the government to deflect international criticism over the case.

It was the fourth time Sakineh Mohammedi Ashtiani has been shown on TV as Tehran has faced an international outcry over the announcement that she would be stoned to death, the latest source of friction between Iran and the West.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101211/ap_on_re_us/iran_stoning;_ylt=Ag1kLVKkExQksYgw4iy9Fd6s0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTFiNHN2N3RoBHBvcwMzOARzZWMDYWNjb3JkaW9uX3dvcmxkBHNsawNpcmFuYWlyc25ld2M-

[panzerfaust]

17. Allah Ackbar!

Allah the Compassionate, the Merciful ...

[ChangoLoa]

18. What's your point?

It's "Akbar", btw